Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Griggs.
Hi Richard, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m a self-taught artist, lifelong learner, and someone who cares deeply about sustainability and meaningful connection.
I started making art during a pretty rough time in my life. It was 2016, and I was studying theology in Lakeland, Florida, trying to graduate while simultaneously deconstructing my faith and struggling with depression. I started seeing a therapist and learned about mindfulness meditation, and it became a focal point in my search for new coping strategies. One day, I picked up a pen and started sketching one of my photos I had taken that summer. I had only taken one art class in high school, but I leaned into it and when I looked up, it had been an hour and I had barely noticed. It felt good. It got me out of my head. It quickly became a daily practice and its own kind of meditation.
After graduating, I worked in the coffee industry, creating art in my free time. By 2018 I was living in Nashville, and in December 2019 an opportunity arose to travel to Guatemala on a trip with other baristas to tour some coffee farms. My manager at Three Brothers Coffee suggested that I try to sell some of my art to help offset the cost of the trip. He offered to let me use the cafe as a gallery for my paintings, so I gathered all my best pieces together and scrounged up some money for frames. It was the first time ever displaying my art and I had no idea what I was doing. But then, I sold a painting. And then another one. Over the course of that month I covered the cost of my trip almost entirely from selling my artwork. It was a moment of clarity. I realized that other people liked what I was creating. That’s when art went from something I did just for me, to something that could resonate with others.
February 2020 I went to Guatemala and had the time of my life, touring coffee farms with my friends and hiking volcanoes at dawn. A week after we got back in Nashville, Covid hit, and suddenly, I was unemployed. I decided to lean fully into making and selling art. Eventually, I was back in the cafe chatting with regulars and making coffee again, but something was different. I wasn’t just a barista anymore, I was an artist.
Since then, I’ve been part of group exhibitions, local markets, and even had one of my paintings acquired by the Nashville Public Library for their lending library program (which is awesome and you should absolutely check it out). I set up every third Saturday at the 100 Taylor Arts Collective market in Germantown, where I love connecting with fellow artists and art lovers. For me, it’s not just about selling my work, but the moments when my art sparks connection and conversation with people.
I recently transitioned into working in art full time at Chromatics, a fine art reproduction studio in Nashville, where I have my own studio space. I’ll always have a deep appreciation for the near decade I spent working in the service industry, especially for the wonderful people I’ve served and worked with along the way. I still pick up a few shifts each month so I don’t lose touch and keep my latte art skills sharp.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has had its twists and turns, but the hardest part has just been learning where to start. I found myself picking the brains of every artist I met, trying to learn what they did, where they set up, little things like how to package and sell prints of my artwork. I felt good about the art I was making, but the shift from a personal meditation and mental health exercise, something just for me, to a business with commissions, art markets, fulfilling print orders, it can get overwhelming sometimes. The first couple commissions I filled nearly broke me. I questioned if I really was an artist or not, and almost didn’t complete them.
I’ve also learned some hard lessons about procrastination and business — like always taking deposits and setting clear deadlines. But I love making things that people connect with. It’s mostly a nonverbal, unconscious connection of how I choose my subject matter. That’s part of why I’m so drawn to portraiture and figure studies, because I can get out of my head and don’t have to think so much about what I’m drawing. It’s more about following the shapes and forms, and letting my hands intuitively choose brushstrokes and find patterns. Most people say that art is about telling a story, but I’m not really trying to do that with my art. I’m mostly just trying to translate what it is I see. Making art is simple, but talking about that art and marketing myself can be much harder.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m fascinated by the human form, and I’m always chasing a sense of flow in my work. I paint to get out of my head, and people seem to say that there’s a lot of unexplainable emotion in there.
I mostly paint the human form, portraiture, and figure drawings. At first, it was because that was all I knew how to draw. When I started drawing in 2016 as an exercise in quieting my brain, I remembered from art class that people are the hardest things to draw. I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to do something that was difficult. Ironically, it became a type of comfort activity for me, a meditation on organic forms and shapes. I have never been any good at drawing anything else, really. But mostly, it’s because I’m uninterested in anything else.
I love watercolor and ink, I love the raw and unfiltered way that it dries in unexpected endings. I am constantly surprised by my own work. And I love that paper is cheap and that the paint dries fast and that I can make multiple paintings at once in a session. I set my supplies out on the ground in my studio, I gather as many references as I can and just start drawing. The more I can get into the zone, out of my head, the better. I like to work fast. I like to see the life breathe into the eyes of the subject as I work on it. If I’m not into something, I scrap it and move on.
When I ask collectors about my work, and what resonates with them, I often get answers like “There’s so much emotion in her eyes,” or “I know that feeling. I’ve seen that look before.” It’s kind of a surreal experience for me, because I’m not really thinking of any of that when I select a reference to paint. I just go for it. I see something I connect with on a nonverbal, subconscious level and I just start to paint. If people want to read a story or an emotion into it, that’s awesome. It’s testament to how multivalent art can be. It’s not really about what I’m trying to say as an artist, it’s about the conversation between the art and the viewer. I want to make those introductions, and I’m more interested in what you have to say than what I do.
Lately I’ve been exploring themes within my work, but they are always loosely held. Just like my beliefs. I like to think about synchronicity, overlap, memory, and shared perspective. What do we have in common? What experiences do we share?
I’m constantly gathering reference images that inspire me, from local and international photographers, other artists, books, just anything that I see and evokes a feeling. I don’t try to name the feeling or anything, I just collect it and add it to a folder on my phone called “Draw this”.”It’s a kind of visual library for me, a way to jump right into creating without wasting energy on decision making. I open that folder and am flooded with hundreds of images that inspire me. I select one or two and just start to translate the shapes I see in the light and shadow onto paper. It’s much more about the process of getting into a flow state than it is about the final result, for me.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is being mindful of the present moment. Art is all about getting into a flow state, where I’m focusing on the task at hand. The feeling that making art can give is like nothing else. I lose track of time, I lose my sense of place and location. I get out of my head. The negativity and self talk that often follows me just kind of goes away when I get into the flow of a painting. I’m more focused on getting this curve, or that brush stroke just right to reflect the subtle nuance of the human form. I’m deeply inspired by the beauty of nature and of getting outside. I love water, and I try to stop by the lake at shelby park at least a couple times a week on my way to work. It has a calming effect just like painting does.
Mental health is really important to me. Maybe because art was such an active source of help, a salve for the pain of depression and anxiety. If someone can connect with my art too and it helps them feel more grounded, less alone, more in touch with their inner self, that’s a wonderful thing. My deepest wish is that everyone finds awe and wonder in their lives and find ways of seeing the beautiful. For me, making art is an extension of the practice of looking, of seeing, of being inspired by little things. I love the little moments in a day.
I love my family. My wife and my dog are a grounding force in my life, and I wouldn’t be the person I am without them. My wife is profoundly supportive and encouraging, and helps me keep my head on straight. We have a daily ritual of gratitude, looking for little moments and stories throughout the day that made us smile. It’s cool to see the ways this habit has reshaped how I look at the world. I’ll be sitting in traffic, and roll my window down to soak up a little sunlight right as the perfect breeze blows by. I think, wow, this is gonna be one of my gratitudes today. The habit of reflecting makes it easier to keep my eyes open throughout the day, and to appreciate small moments of pleasure and beauty. I think that is what gives focus and shape to the artwork I make, and the kind of life I want to live.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.richig.art
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/rich.ig
