Meet Richard Newkirk

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Newkirk.

Hi Richard, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Throughout my life, creation has been a huge centerpiece. I started creating at a young age, drawing unrecognizable sketches on a children’s chalkboard. For most of my life, I could say I have had an affinity for the arts and creative people.

In 2017, I settled on going to North Carolina A&T State University, and as of December 2021, I have graduated with a bachelor’s in Visual Arts and Design. While I was into the arts, I did not take it seriously until I began my enrollment in college. Finding like-minded people inspired me to continue to create, whether that be painting, drawing, designing, etc.

In April of 2021, I held my very own creative showcase, hoping to allow other creatives and myself a platform to show our talent and catalogs. As of 2022, I have started branching out from the creative side of art, and into the business side. Along with two friends, I created a non-profit organization that hopes to continue what I started in 2021, and showcase creatives throughout North Carolina and hopefully the world.

Today, I am continuing that mission, and hope to be able to share more about that soon.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think it would be somewhat foolish of me to say it has been a smooth road to get where I am right now. Life is a part of growth, and life always has its ups and downs. In November of 2020, I lost my mother to breast cancer, which in itself was a huge challenge, and I gave up creating for a short time.

To get over this event, I used that as motivation and dedicated my creative showcase of 2021 to her. I’ve come into many other challenges as well, from struggling with how I perceived my own art and its worth, to figuring out who I want to be as a person and an artist.

Life is constantly changing, and I’ve been trying to teach myself that it’s okay to have doubts about things, including my art. I don’t know if I would be able to create better work today if I didn’t have those original doubts about pieces I made years ago.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
While some may describe me as a visual artist, I generally like to call myself creative, as I feel like an artist puts me in a box. Though, when it comes to strictly visual arts, I do like to describe myself as a psychedelic-surrealism artist. I specialize in painting dreams, thoughts, memories, or ideas, in styles influenced by psychedelia.

I like to say I am known for painting scenes that allow viewers to insert themselves, and think outside the box when it comes to interpretation. While I primarily paint, I spend a lot of time doing graphic art, drawing or working on clothing. I would say that I am proudest of the non-profit organization that my friends and I have managed to start, and I am extremely excited to launch it to the public later this year.

Something that sets me apart from others is my mindset toward the creation and my drive. I believe that in a general sense, these past few years have been harder than usual for a lot of people, due to many factors such as pandemics, economic instability, etc, and creativity provides us a light in the dark.

I want to use my own experiences too, of course, to promote myself, but also other creatives that want and need a platform. I have always lived by the saying that if you want something and get knocked down 7 times, you have to stand up 8 times.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
Raleigh is an amazing city. While I was born in Charlotte, I have spent so much time in North Carolina throughout my life, that I know the city of Raleigh like the back of my hand.

One thing I love about Raleigh is the melting pot of people that exists within the city. Being part of the widely renowned research triangle, Raleigh is a facilitator of many different types of people and cultures. Everywhere I go within the city, I am bound to meet someone with a very different background than my own.

If I had to choose something I like least about Raleigh, it would definitely be driving around, as the roads and fellow drivers in the city can be sometimes quite reckless and unforgiving.

Pricing:

• Canvases: $50-1000
• Prints: $10-20
• Custom Apparel: $50-200

Contact Info:

• Email: rnewkirk101@gmail.com
• Website: www.thenameisrich.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thenameis.rich/