"I'll be your groupie, if you'll be mine."

Me & John Elway Canton, Ohio 2004

I am such a huge groupie. I have loved that moment of meeting someone famous or infamous for most of my life.   Some people call me insecure. They say that I’m not happy with who I am and so I have to connect myself with people who I will never be. I think that’s sad. I just like to meet famous people; people who’ve accomplished extraordinary things in a very difficult life. I realize how hard it is just to survive in this world, let alone achieve and prosper. When I meet someone who has excelled in whatever realm that they exist in, I can’t help but be impressed and want to share a moment with them to express my respect for what they have accomplished. That’s why I love to paint athletes and celebrities and political figures and great moments in history: they are a reflection of the excellence that I have witnessed in my lifetime.

"Red 98" by Rick Long ©2013

Painting, for me, has become somewhat of a rush unlike any other that I have experienced in my half a century alive. I learned at an early age that I had a skill in something that a vast majority of people were afraid of: public speaking. Speaking in front of strangers taught me to be motivated by the fact that I had to create an environment for both me and my audience where we could communicate bilaterally through one form and/or another, and where we would all benefit simultaneously from the interaction. It was my responsibility then as a speaker, and now as an artist, to create a sensory “bubble” around both my art and my audience were outside influences were minimized in order to heighten the connection to what was being communicated inside that “bubble.” My experiences for a decade as a professional actor on stage only fortified my belief in the necessity of that environment. Whenever the case was that the bubble had been burst, by fault of either the artist or the audience, the message which was intended to reach that audience was the first thing to disappear.

I hope that my painting show an intended connection between not only my audience, but also the audience of those whom I have painted. When I sit down with an empty piece of watercolor paper I really hope to strengthen the connection which my subject is already established between them and their audiences.  I am hoping to celebrate that connection through my work and I hope you enjoy it.

Visit me at www.richardjaylong.com

Buy my work at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/RJLDesignz