Meet Richard Bell | Artist/Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Richard Bell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Richard, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I was born a risk taker. My mother would probably say I was born without breaks. As far as my schooling was concerned, I was more into sports, and getting into trouble. I could’ve done better academically, but it was hard for me to sit still enough to focus. I was a lot more settled at my second attempt at college, where I even made the National Honors Society. College was also where I discovered that I had a talent doing Artwork. That came about after I took a class to complete some credits. However, I was studying for premed. After looking at the entire cost of medical school, I was sitting in their cafeteria looking at a classified page and saw the salaries for different IT jobs.. I decided at that moment instead of getting myself into an incredible amount of debt, I would drop out and pursue a career in Information Technology. In order to move up in that field, I always interviewed above what I thought my knowledge base was. I actually was able to get the jobs. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was willing to take those kinds of risks, I would not have moved up in my career as fast.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My IT career ended abruptly in November 2002 when I rolled my convertible and broke my neck at cervical 5/6. I spent three months on life support, and another three months in therapy at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. After being home I continued to try to reach for things and do as much on my own as I could. After getting some arm strength back, I attempted to do some sketching. It was very frustrating trying to draw anything. After hanging out with some guys in the SCI community, I gained more strength. Those guys are extremely competitive, and that was exactly what I needed to move forward. There was an annual art show at Rancho that I never wanted to go to. But when I finally went, the artwork was absolutely amazing and blew my mind. One of my friends said you should be in the show next year. That’s when I got to work and started painting again. I made that show, and shortly after that ran into Kristin Brin at a benefit dinner. We hung out a little bit and she introduced me to the Beverly Hills art show. I applied, and got in. Around my third year being in the show, I won my first art award. Then I won a scholarship to the Vermont Studio Center, and eventually started showing in galleries.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a DTLA resident, and Artist, of course I would take my guests to the MOCA and Broad museums. I would definitely grab coffee at Cafe Balzac at the Bloc. Lunch at Capital Grill. I like taking the train to Santa Monica beach. Maybe happy hour at The Abbey. The Perch, or Joeys for dinner. Of course it all depends on what my guests want to do.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
While working in IT, I had the opportunity to stay in the bay area. In the evenings I spent time with my uncle Raymond Howell, who was a very well-established career long Artist. He mentored me in a way where it did not even seem like I was being taught. The artist Kristin Brin is the person who encouraged me to take the leap into my art career.

Website: www.rbellart.com

Instagram: @dickybell

Twitter: @rbartworks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=richard%20bell%20artist