I'm Coming OUT..

There was a great article on the Out in America website about my new book "Ins and Outs," and I had to laugh when I visited their homepage to see that their news banner was alternating between promoting stories about Britney Spears' cd, the Harvey Milk movie, and me! My little book is in some impressive company!

Check out the article HERE.

Ins & Outs: A Collection

I've finally finished my book "Ins & Outs" which features many of my recent narrative paintings that address issues of sexual orientation. It's been a great experience compiling these pieces and organizing them in a way to best share my story, and I'm thrilled with the end result! I'm also excited that one of my best friends, Melissa Forman, wrote a fabulous foreword for the book. Thanks, Melissa!

"Ins & Outs" is now available to purchase online in softover and hardcover editions. Click HERE to order yours today!

Here's a look at a few pages from the book. There's also a more extensive preview available with the listing:

Winter Reading

I'm putting the finishing touches on a new book showcasing some of the paintings (and corresponding stories) from my "Ins and Outs" series. It will be available in December, but here's a sneak peek at the cover (I've never been good at keeping secrets!).


Shoot me an e-mail (prichmond1287@earthlink.net) if you'd like to be notified when it comes out.

Christmas Cheesecake!

'Tis the season to spread some good cheer (yes, it's that time already, at least according to mall window displays everywhere), and what better way to light up loved ones' faces than with a holiday-themed Cheesecake Boy of their very own?

I have two Christmas Cheesecake Boy greeting cards published by 10Percent Productions. They are available to purchase on their website. Click HERE to check out the "Holiday Surprises" set (depicting Santa's run-in with a pants-snatching pet), and HERE for "Brightest of the Holidays" (shown to the right).

I'm also offering limited edition giclee prints of my "Stocking Stuffer" Cheesecake Boy painting (shown below). You can order him (or any of his Cheesecake brethren) in my Etsy shop HERE.


With all of these fabulously naughty Christmas gift options, hopefully we've got you covered (which is more than I can say for my Cheesecake Boy models!). Happy holidays!

New Goodies on Etsy

I've been busy updating my Etsy store with some original paintings, including "Not Just a Closet," "Forbidden Forest," "Mother Nurture," and "Looking for Something," as well as giclee prints of some Cheesecake Boy classics like "The Elevator Incident" and "Room With a View." In the coming days I plan to add more, so check back often:
http://www.paulypants.etsy.com

Batmobama-MANIA!

I'm in my second day of jury duty, and since today is also Election Day, my mind is on the dynamic duo of the Democratic party. Apparently, I'm not alone. Since posting my "Batmobama and Robiden" giclee prints on Etsy, that piece has been getting a lot of attention from bloggers, message board commentors, and a host of online publications dedicated to keeping their readership informed of the latest trends. Not to worry, Batmobama's sudden success isn't going to go to my head -- I'm pretty sure that my next painting, "Noah's Gay Wedding Cruise," will appeal to more of a niche market.

Anyway, since I don't have much else to do here in the jury pool, I'm going to post a few links to some of the interesting Batmobama discussion going on out there in the world:

BUZZ.YAHOO.COM
TREND HUNTER MAGAZINE
BATMOBAMA AND THE GLOBAL FLEA MARKET
YES BUT NO BUT YES
I HEART CHAOS
ASD LABS
LAUGHING SQUID
ANIMAL NEW YORK
THE WORLD'S BEST EVER

I also came across some great photos and recaps from the "Hollywood DC: Lights...Camera...Election!" opening at the World of Wonder Gallery (which features my orginal "Batmobama and Robiden" painting). I wish I could have been there to party it up with RuPaul, Santino Rice (from Project Runway), James St James, and even Heidi and Spencer (from "The Hills"). Here's a sampling:

Party Politics (Part 1)
Party Politics (Part 2)
"Hollywood DC: Lights...Camera...Election!" by Whorange
"Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt: Lights! Camera! Election!" on Gossip Girls
"Candidates Get Hung Up to Dry" by TMZ




Check out some of the other work from the show on the gallery's web site: WOW Gallery

And here's a video from the reception:


World of Wonder is hosting a "Live Election Results Viewing Party" tonight from 7PM "until we have a new president. Click here for more details.

Skreening Batmobama

Check out my new "Batmobama and Robiden" T-shirts available here: BATMOBAMA SHIRT.



I stopped in the Skreened shop in Clintonville this afternoon to get one of the shirts for myself, and I had a blast visiting with the staff. They do an excellent job and they seemed to enjoy themselves in the process. Here's a shout out to Daniel who documented the visit diligently on his iphone and said he would post pics on the Skreened blog at some point.

Check out their site to see all the cool offerings and learn about how to upload your own designs too: www.skreened.com

Batmobama Giclee Prints

I'm offering limited edition giclee prints of "Batmobama and Robiden" in my Etsy store.

I just posted it last night and it's generating a lot of interest. Not that Obama needs help boosting his popularity, but I might recommend some grey tights and blue, shiny skivvies to help secure his lead in the polls -- and Biden doesn't look too bad himself in his cute little number!

Check it out here and order one for yourself: www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16193297

We Do Need Another Hero!

The next World of Wonder Gallery show is called “Hollywood DC: Lights...Camera...Election!” and it’s all about the new era of “superstar politics.” My painting “Batmobama and Robiden” shows our Democratic candidates Obama and Biden as the famous dynamic duo from the campy sixties series, with the bat signal projecting their campaign logo from atop the distant White House.
Looming eerily in the corner are the villains, Penguin and Catwoman, who look suspiciously like the Republican nominees McCain and Palin.
As the election draws near and I find myself wrapped up in debates, pundit analysis, and those increasingly annoying campaign ads, it seems that the line between sides is pretty clearly drawn despite the popular “reaching across the aisle” rhetoric. I look to Obama and Biden as symbols of the hope and change I believe in, and I’m anxiously counting down the days until they swoop in and take out the bad guys with a big “Ka-Pow!” on November 4.

Soon I’ll be offering giclee prints and T-shirts featuring this painting. Check back for more details within the next few days. The “Hollywood DC” show is opening Thursday, October 23rd at 8PM at the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery in Hollywood. Check out their website for more details: www.worldofwonder.net. One of the giclees will also be a part of the “Art of Politics” exhibit at the Bar of Modern Art in Columbus opening on October 22. Visit BoMA’s site here: www.barofmodernart.com.

Metro Pulse Reviews DollyPOP

Here's an excerpt from a DollyPOP review in Metro Pulse by Coury Turczyn (click HERE for complete article):

Paul Richmond’s “The Dollypop Guild” is perhaps the biggest attention-getter at the show. In vibrant Technicolor hues, it portrays Dolly as Glinda the Good Witch from The Wizard of Oz, encapsulated in a pink sphere of magic as she wields her sparkling wand. In the distance, a sign for Dollywood points down the yellow brick road, promising sanctuary. Standing in ruby slippers is the artist himself as a young boy, watching the delightful spectacle.

“In a campy, over-the-top way, this piece represents the magic and inspiration I found in Dolly during a difficult time in my life, a time during which I felt incredibly alone,” writes Richmond in an e-mail. “The amazing and somewhat poignant outcome of the DollyPOP exhibit is that I’ve met many others who connect with the painting, having walked that same yellow brick road themselves.”

Richmond, who lives in Columbus, Ohio, says he found inspiration in Dolly as he grew up “as a little repressed gay boy in the Midwest.” He often incorporates his own personal narratives in his work, reflecting his journey to self-acceptance—and Dolly provided help along the way.

“After watching The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas as a child, I decided I wanted to grow up and be like Dolly,” Richmond writes. “This wasn’t exactly an acceptable aspiration in my hometown, but I was drawn to the flamboyant entertainer because of her over-the-top persona and seemingly abundant self-confidence. Throughout my life I struggled with my desire to fit in, all the while knowing that I was very different from my peers. I saw in Dolly a kindred spirit, someone who chose an offbeat path and made it work.”

When it came time for his Dolly tribute, Richmond had found his perfect muse, and the result is a dazzling meeting of artist and subject: bold, colorful, playful. But this wasn’t the first time he had devoted a piece to Dolly.

“I had the pleasure of meeting her as a child and presenting her with a drawing that I had labored over for months,” Richmond writes. “She was incredibly sweet and the experience was a milestone of my young adult life, helping me learn that I could set goals and make them come true. When I found out about the DollyPOP show, I knew I wanted to try and portray that experience and the inspiration I found in her at such a young age.”

Sneak-Peek

I'm working to finish a new piece for the upcoming exhibit "Hollywood D.C: Lights...Camera...Election!" I plan to have it finished this weekend, but I wanted to give you a sneak-peek at one small section of the digital sketch I created as a reference. Who is this, you might ask? Well, although a superhero never reveals his identity, he might if he were vying for the vice presidency! Check back next week (same bat-time, same bat-channel), to see the finished piece, "Batmobama and Robiden." There may even be guest appearances by some notorious villains too!

In the meantime, if you're in or near the LA area, you might want to start making plans to attend the opening on October 23 at 8PM. According to curator Thairin Smothers, "the opening reception will be bigger and better than anything the WOW Storefront Gallery has done to date, with a gala opening reception featuring a red carpet, and step & repeat for celebrity guests. We are also going to announce soon the addition of a certain celebrity host, as well as a fabulous celebrity d.j. for the occasion."

Wow - celebrities galore! Wish I could be there. I will, however, be attending the reception for a similarly-themed exhibit a little closer to home later in the month. The "Art of Politics" group exhibit at the Bar of Modern Art in Columbus, Ohio opens on Oct. 22 from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm and will feature a giclee print of my "Batmobama and Robiden" piece. A percentage of the proceeds from this exhibit will be donated to Obama's "Campaign for Change," a cause I am honored to lend my work to.

Circus Show Recap

Gale Hart, curator of "The Circus Show & Other Atrocities," sent me a link to some photos from the opening reception HERE.

They've also added photos of many of the pieces to A Bitchin' Space Gallery's website, which you can check out HERE.

The show was a big success and I was thrilled to participate. Here's a shot of the "circus train" of artwork (I'm still looking for mine...)

DOLLYPOP Recap

"Wow!" is all I can say after a whirlwind trip to LA for the opening of "DOLLYPOP" at the appropriately named WOW (World of Wonder) Storefront Gallery. Ok, maybe that's not ALL I have to say...

For starters, it was so wonderful to reconnect with my fabulous friend Jane and get to know her also-fabulous husband, Chris. They're quite the artistic super-duo of Hermosa Beach, and I was really inspired by their many exciting creative projects in the works.

Jane and I did some requisite beach frolicking and boutique shopping before getting ready for the big event.

When we arrived that evening at Hollywood Boulevard unsure of the gallery's exact location, a distant window display made our destination all too clear -- a gigantic (as in taller than me) sculpture of Dolly's girls.

Inside the gallery, the fun continued with a remarkable series of unique and often over-the-top tributes to a lady deserving of no less. The Dolly-love was instantly apparent as multiple costumed Dollys (including the amazing Lenora Claire) worked the room while a video projection took us through highlights of Dolly's career (including a duet with Miss Piggy and a slightly uncomfortable performance with some guys juggling flaming torches over her head). Dolly's songbook provided the perfect background music, and a display of hay bales and live chickens helped round out the ambiance. By all means, this was the party I had always dreamed of (although the chicken thing probably wouldn't have occurred to me!).






It was especially gratifying to talk with so many people in attendance who really connected with my work, especially the "Dollypop Guild" piece. It seems that as alone as I felt during childhood with my mom's heels and my country diva dreams, there were actually quite a few others out there walking a similar yellow brick road.


E News host Marc Malkin was co-curator of the exhibit, and he along with Steven Corfe (who works at WOW as a curator and producer) were incredibly gracious and complimentary. They managed to make me feel right at home, a feeling which continued as I looked across the room to see someone sporting one of my retro-Dolly T-shirt designs.

We met the cutest couple from Louisville, one half of which, David Mitchell, was responsible for some of my favorite pieces in the show (pictured below with his velvet Dolly painting). He and his partner had gotten married earlier that day -- what could be better than a DOLLYPOP honeymoon? Congrats, guys!


After some pink champagne and some lively discussion, we made our way back out into the world -- our spirits a little sparklier and our world full of a bit more wonder than ever before.

The next day, the Dolly-mania continued as Jane and Chris treated me to a matinee performance of "9 to 5: The Musical" (which had debuted only 4 days earlier) starring Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, and Megan Hilty with songs by Dolly. No one could set a tale about kidnapping and attempted murder in the "pink-collared ghetto" of the office-place to music like our girl, and Megan Hilty was as cute as could be in the role Dolly made famous in the original movie.

I'm SO incredibly grateful to my friends here in Columbus for treating me to this amazing adventure, to Jane and Chris for being such generous hosts, to the WOW Gallery for inviting me into their joyfully extravagant world, and of course to Dolly for providing the inspiration for it all!

Check out my complete set of photos from the trip HERE.

Check out World of Wonder's coverage of the event HERE, HERE, and HERE.

The Defamer review, "It's Dolly's World, We Just Live In It" can be seen HERE.

Check out Dollymania's coverage HERE.

Recap with photos from Daveland Art HERE.

Click below for an article in LA Confidential magazine about the show, featuring one of my pieces:

And check out WOW's video recap here:

Playing Dress Up

I created my first T-Shirt design at Skreened.com last night featuring the boy from my "Dollypop Guild" painting. You can put it on a variety of shirts from American Apparel as well as tote bags and my favorite - a baby onesie! Perfect for the whole family! Check it out here: SKREENED.

Hello Dolly!

With the DollyPOP opening at World of Wonder Gallery only a few days away, I thought it would be appropriate to write a little bit about my love of the fabulous bewigged diva.

After watching “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” as a child, I thought I wanted to grow up and be a whore. I didn’t realize exactly what that meant, and when my parents pushed me to select a different career path, I decided instead that I would be Dolly Parton. For a young boy in conservative surroundings, this was not an acceptable aspiration either, but I was drawn to the flamboyant entertainer because of her over-the-top persona and seemingly abundant self-confidence.

As a child, I struggled with my desire to fit in, all the while knowing that I was very different from my peers. I saw in Dolly a kindred spirit, someone who chose an offbeat path and made it work. As I grew older, coming to terms with my homosexuality proved challenging. I wanted to make my parents proud, but I felt that I couldn’t do so and be true to myself.

As Dolly channels her emotions and experiences into her music, I learned to do the same through painting. At 12, I decided I wanted to meet my heroine, and through persistent correspondence with personnel at Dollywood, I was able to briefly meet Dolly and present her with a drawing. The experience was a milestone of my young adult life and helped me learn that I could set goals and make them come true.

Today, I use my work as a means to document and share my experiences coming out of the closet and finally accepting myself. While I may not fulfill my youthful ambition of “being” Dolly any time soon, I hope through my artwork I can help spread some of the bright, sparkly, positive energy that she has generously shared with the world.

Pauly Prints

I'm going to start offering giclee prints of my work through Etsy. I currently have two pieces available (with more to come soon): "Elegant Imbalance" and "The Dollypop Guild." The museum-quality fine art Giclee prints are made using HiFi Inkjet printer with archival, long life, pigment-based ink on premium semi-glossy photo paper (whew!). Check them out here: ETSY

The Dollypop Guild

I finished my painting "The Dollypop Guild" for the World of Wonder Storefront Gallery show and she's on her way to Hollywood along with my other piece, "Hello Dolly!" The show opens on September 12 (here's a link to more info about the exhibit: WOW).

Here's a photo of the completed painting in all its Dolly-Poppin' glory:

And here are a few detail shots:

Spreading the Word

There was a really nice article called "A Portrait of the Artist as a Gay Man" by Richard Ades that came out this week in our alternative paper "The Other Paper" about some of my current projects. Check it out here: The Other Paper

The article was also featured on the World of Wonder site: HERE

In other news, I shipped off the Circus Show piece yesterday, and I'm busy adding some finishing touches to "The Dollypop Guild" (which includes glitter, sequins, and rhinestones), before shipping it off as well. I promise I'll post a photo of it on here very shortly. I feel like a mother sending her babies out into the world...even if they are bedazzled and bubble-wrapped first!

A Little More "Exposure"

The erotic art site Incubus' Choice posted a link to my work and a short interview. Here's an excerpt:

What have you gained by being on the internet?
Well for starters, I found my partner online! Dennis is an amazingly supportive and wonderful influence on my life, not to mention a hot model for some of my Cheesecake Boys! As for my artwork, which I’m sure was the point of the question, it’s gained a lot of exposure through my website. I’ve received e-mails from people all over the world who’ve found my work and can relate to it. It’s a wonderful way to reach a broad audience who would never find me otherwise. Most of the opportunities I’ve had over the past few years have been a direct result of internet exposure, including having my work licensed for the cover of a Puerto Rican gay fiction novel “Dos Centimetros de Mar” by Carlos Vázquez Cruz, Cheesecake Boys card publication through 10Percent Productions, exhibit opportunities at the World of Wonder Gallery in Hollywood and A Bitchin’ Space Gallery in Sacramento, and an invitation to the memorial service for one of my diva inspirations Tammy Faye Messner at which my portrait of her was displayed and auctioned.

To read the full interview, click here: INCUBUS

Full Circle

I recently had the opportunity to curate an exhibit for a very special artist. I met her when I entered her studio for my first art class at age 4. Within a few months, I was making (rather crude) oil paintings of my favorite cartoon characters and other childhood inspirations under Linda Regula's guidance, though my biggest childhood inspiration would ultimately turn out to be her. She was a great teacher, mentor, and friend who stood by me and encouraged me as I grew up and went off to art school to pursue my own creative endeavors. I am still inspired by her to be a prolific, honest artist as well as a generous teacher who will hopefully share with others the healing power of art that she exposed me to at such a young age.

Check out more photos from her exhibit, "Child of Light, Child of Darkness" by clicking HERE.