Q&A with Artist Rich Berry
How/when did you discover your love of art?
I was traveling a lot playing bars and festivals in the blues circuit and in 2011 got kinda burned out on the travel and the related hassles. I thought I would like to diversify. Art comes from the same side of the brain as music, so I played with various forms of art, until I came across pen and ink. I took to it immediately. I haven’t looked back. I now serve two masters, music and art.
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Hard to say. I guess my first inspiration was guitars (Duh!). From there I just branched out to whatever grabbed me. I love to do landscapes, cityscapes, detailed mechanical subjects, and whatever else strikes me.
What does your creative process look like?
If I see something that I like and it sticks in my head, it usually grows into the details I want to show. Sometimes I will draw the center of focus first, then fill in the details around it. It may be from a picture, or totally something from inside my head. I have been told by art teachers that I have a natural eye for composition and perspective, so that is helpful. I once bought a book on the subject but was afraid to read it, thinking it might make me second guess what I do. It can be hell inside my head!
What is your favorite medium to work with?
All of my work is always based in pen and ink. If I want color, I use colored pencils, colored inks, or watercolors. There is something about the contrast of black and white that excites me. I always have that at the center of my work.
Where can people find your work?
If you would like to see some of it in person, I am a member of Images Art Gallery, 7320 W. 80th Street, Overland Park, Kansas 66204. If you would like to see most of what I have done, you can see it online at www.richberrypenandink.com
What are you working on now? Any special projects?
No special projects. I just finished a 6 x 12 landscape, but who knows right now where I will go next. You must understand that I serve two masters, so if I get going too long on art, music tugs at me saying, “Hey, it is my turn.” I am a disabled veteran with PTSD for one thing, and my brain goes all of the time. It can get scary in here!
What advice would you give to aspiring artists?
If you are going into the arts to become a star or a millionaire, then you will most likely be doomed. If you develop a passion for the work and look forward to just doing it, it can last you a lifetime and be your best friend.
You’ve mentioned being a musician as well as a visual artist. What do you play, and where can our readers hear your music?
I have been a guitar player and singer since I was 15. I am now 76 and have been playing pretty much consistently for all those years. When I was 21 years old, I went to Viet Nam. I was there two years and in my second year I auditioned for Special Services in Saigon. They accepted me and I was placed in a 4-piece killer band which travelled the whole country for three months going all of the places where the USO shows could not go. After all of the years playing, at 70 I decided to stop traveling and sort of semi-retire.
I dropped my website. At the present time I only play four times a month at two locations. Both are Jazz, A Louisiana Kitchen, here in Kansas City. You can also find some of my work on YouTube. The easiest way to find me there is to search Rich Berry Walk on Water. That will get you into my channel.
