We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Richard Samuel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

I’m passionate about passing on to the next generation the ability to pursue their passions in creative spaces. The Young Creators Art show will take place September 2022 at Richesart Gallery. We will select 20 local artist under 18 to dispay their work for the city to see. It’s our goal to use $50,000 in crowd funding and gallery proceeds to provide scholarships to every artist selected.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Well, my name is Richard Samuel, I’m a watercolor artist, graphic designer, and owner of Richesart gallery. Early in my life, I began drawing action figures. My mother noticed the talent being the art enthusiast she is and started buying me art supplies. It wasn’t long until I began placing and winning art competitions in grade school using soft pastels. I continued his study of art and high school, while living in the artsy community of Wimberley, Texas, southeast of Austin. My senior year, I was singled out by his school to attend a week long workshop by world famous watercolorist, Lian Quan Zhen. That’s when I fell in love with watercolor and my life forever changed
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I went on to study at Texas Southern University, while also starring on the football team. His football skills have allowed him to play for teams in Europe, enabling him to travel to many countries. He’s been to Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Czech Republic, Bosnia, Austria, Greece, and Germany. In these countries he has experienced the landscape, history, art and culture first hand. Being a Former pro football player turned artist I have an insatiable appetite for creating, Focused on the sensual nature of art, I love to create vivid, eclectic, and realistic watercolor paintings. I’ve been fortunate enough to have my art adorned on the walls of private collectors around the world. After I retired from playing ball I opened up an art Gallery. I soon found out that I was the only black owned art gallery in the city which immediately changed my goals as an Artist. As the only Black-owned gallery in Austin, Texas, Samuel is committed to diversifying Austin’s art scene and bringing work from underrepresented communities to the forefront.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

Yes my side hustle did not only turn into my Full time gig but also helped me realize its the true love of my life.

I was naturally blessed with a ton of passion and ambition. Qualities that have helped me be great at many endeavors in life. Once I retired from playing ball these qualities were directed into art. It wasn’t long before I had several different revenues for my art . Watercolor clients, graphic design, custom framing, teaching watercolor classes, custom clothes, consignment print sales at local stores, and vending. At the time I didn’t realize what I was doing I was just being passionate and ambitious. I soon realized that the multiple revenue streams were a great way to make art a full time job. Diversification was key.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.richesart.com
• Instagram: @Richesartgallery @richesartwork
• Facebook: @richesart
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-samuel-5a2a0a72/
• Twitter: @richesart
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwID_fRcOnqTa_IbC-pGKg
• Other: tik tok @richesart

Image Credits
Photo cred Jacob Gonzalez and Eli Samuel