Portland, Maine Artist Spreads Happiness With His Art and Hands-On Engagement: Meet Rick Hamilton

And today I have with me artists, Rick Hamilton. It's great to be able to have this conversation with you, Rick. Good morning, Rick, tell me about your art. You're a little bit different than many of our, um, main artists that are affiliated with the Portland art gallery and that the scene that you're depicting don't have much to do with Maine. No, that's true. And if you visit my studio, there's very little evidence to say this is a main artist. Um, I think my colors are maybe have a Latin feel to them or, or, um, I was heavily influenced by the time I spent in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean. So I, I think that shows in my art, I do, I do love Maine and I'm always thinking things like maybe I should paint maybe more main scenes, but I just always go back to the same colors and themes. And I really loved that. So that's where it ends up. Rick, you spent time in the Navy. Tell me about that. Yeah. I joined the Navy, uh, nine days after I graduated high school and I just wanted to not necessarily leave Maine, but just go and do things. And, um, so, so I joined and I did travel the world and it was amazing. And at that time I had no idea about art. I had no interest in it. Um, I had no idea that I would be painting things that I experienced in the six years I was in the Navy. And what was your role in the Navy? Oh, I had a few different ones, but I was, um, on submarines mostly. So that must've been an interesting experience to be a kind of down deep in the depths when you're used to being in the broad open spaces of Maine. True. Yeah, it was, but I really, I just didn't think about it much. I, they could've told me to do anything and I would have a jar and went and done it. Um, so I wasn't nervous or scared or anxious. I just did what they told me. And, and that was that you, Uh, originally moved from out of state up to Bangor and then down to Scarborough where you graduated from high school and, uh, you you've had the experience to kind of experience Maine in, in different ways. What are some of the things that you've noticed about different parts of the state? Well, um, I've, I've always been drawn to the ocean. Um, so, so anytime I'm in Maine, I really like to spend time by the ocean. And I'm lucky where I live in south Portland, that I get to see the ocean every single day. Um, so I really love that. Uh, so I'm drawn to the ocean and I like Portland because of the, the busy-ness of it. I like the chaos and the action and the people and the buildings. Um, so I'm really drawn to that. And that's why Portland is my favorite city. Yes, I would say so. I would say so. And I do, I spend a lot of time on or near the water and I'm always thinking like this, it's so beautiful here. And the sail boats and the dark blue waters, I'll say things like, why aren't you painting this? And I'll go to the studio and try to do it. And then the oranges or the turquoise or the pink show up. And, um, and I just go and I go with it and maybe This is something where you'll work your way towards. It's just not where you are right now. It could be, it could be, you never know, Before you went into art full time, you actually had a whole other life and a whole other career. I did. Yeah. I've had a lot of different careers. I've been a, a fishermen, a roofer, a carpenter, a salesman. Um, and I just, all those careers just never really spoke to me. And I started painting in 1999. I was living up on Munjoy hill and there was a little girl that lived in the apartment below us. And one day she was out painting on the Eastern prom and I just walked up and said, what are you doing? Said, I'm painting. Do you want to try it? I said, sure. I had nothing else to do. So I did it. And I said, this is really amazing. So either that night or maybe that week, I went out and bought my first paint set and I said, I need to be doing this. And I, and it's been, I've been doing it ever since. So what was it about that initial interaction with the little girl who was painting? Was it, was it the colors? Was it just the, the act of painting itself? Was it just that it spoke to a different part of your spirit? I think it just spoke to something that I couldn't really, really identify. Um, the colors, not so much, maybe just the fact of, of dipping the paint on the brush and the paint, and then putting it on the paper. Just, just did something for me. Have You worked with your hands before in your life? Do you have an, I mean, it says, it sounds like you were a roofer and you did things kind of professionally like that, but is that something that you've spent time doing? I did. Yeah, I really did. I did. I was, I was a carpenter and I was a machinist for a little while. So I've spent a lot of time working with my hands. Like you had a muscle memory and your hands, all of a sudden picked up this, this paintbrush and it was another way of kind of manifesting this physical aspect of it. Yeah, True. Yup. Yeah. True. And I think I developed, um, uh, a good work ethic through those other careers and I brought that into art and I really do, uh, I spend a lot of time in my studio and I really appreciate the hard work. I feel like I've gotten to where I right now, just by hard work. I don't think that I have any special talent. I think I just, I got where I am. I just painting over and over and over and just developing my skills and my sense of the paint. You've said that you have no formal training in art. Has that ever been intimidating for you knowing that some artists go into this with an art school background or, you know, studying with museums or other types of opportunities? No, I don't think so. I think maybe that's actually made it less intimidating, um, that I don't have that background because I don't know. I don't know that I don't know things that they know, you know what I mean? Like, I, I, I'm just going into it as a guy that just likes to paint what's in his mind. And I have no notions that I don't, I don't have the training that these other people have, so I may be less of an artist. So I think that the fact that I have no training actually helps me to be less intimidated. Do You think that we, um, encourage children when they're young to remain connected to their creative spirits? Or do you think that somehow we may be kind of send them in a different direction suggesting that some people can be artists and some people can't be artists and you have to get trained or else you can't be an artist? Yeah, I really do think that, um, I have a lot of people that come to my studio and they'll say things like I could never do what you're doing. And I almost get into arguments with them, like, and say, yes, you can. There's nothing special about me. I'm just, I think we're every one of us is a born artist and we're taught, maybe taught through schools and social pressure that we're not as good as we think we are. We're not all artists. And it's only a gift that's given to a few special people and the rest of the society can access those gifts. And I think that, uh, if you look at the art of a kindergarten class, that kind of proves the point that like, when I see that art, I'm just blown away by it. I think it's, it's just amazing that these kids just let loose whichever inside them without any idea of what they should do or what the painting should look like. And then over time, somehow that idea gets, uh, knocked down. So when you say that you went in to your studio and just started working on painting, did you have any specific artists who influenced the type of work that you do? Did you study different people's techniques? How did you self-educate on this topic? Yeah, I D I, well, I would say my two and maybe three, uh, biggest influences would be Picasso Modigliani, and maybe, uh, Basquiat work. Um, but I didn't really study them hard. I would look at their work and I, I wouldn't look at it a lot because I was afraid that I would copy it. So I wanted to, I would look at their work just to get a sense of what they were doing and then take that with me just a little bit, not so much that I would copy it, but I think you can see the influence in my art. Yeah. Yes, definitely. Um, tell me about the piece that's behind me here in the studio. Sure. That's uh, uh, that the title of that is the chorus line at bond Susie's, and I'm a little bit unsure of the pronunciation of that word, because, I mean, I just made it up the other day in my studio and I don't, I don't think it's a real place. I just, I just, I just made it up so it can be pronounced any way you want any way you want. Yep. And when I was painting that, I had this feeling that I was looking, I was at maybe a small little night club in the French Riviera and, uh, we were watching a group of chorus line dancers. So that's what people see when they look at this painting, as they see this, this line of women dancing with these brightly colored, um, tutus. And, um, and it really does kind of make you feel like you want to go to the French Riviera and, and join right in. Yeah. But then mission accomplished. What about the piece that's behind you? Uh, that's the, uh, I believe the title of that is I'll play flamenco on my red guitar. So when I, when I'm in the studio, I always have music playing and a lot of times it's salsa music or flamenco music. Um, and there was one song I don't even, I can't remember the song, but I would, I would listen to it over and over. And, uh, it, and it just put this idea. It was actually a YouTube video of a woman dancing in the streets, maybe in Spain or somewhere in Europe and this young guy playing flamenco guitar next to her, or with just an amazing voice. And I would listen to it over and over and over. And I did, I painted that painting while I was listening to that. How strong of an influence is music on your work? A very big it's very big. Yup. Yeah. Music is huge in my life. In general. I, in, in the car, I always have music on and I never paint without music. I actually try to, uh, there's so many podcasts I want to listen to. And my, and so my goal is I'll go to the studio in the morning and say, Rick, just listen to these podcasts and then maybe I'll make it a half an hour through. And then I say, no, I need the music. I got to have the music. Yeah. What about words? I understand that, that words and things that people say also influence your pieces. Yeah, they do. I would say that and, and relating back to music, a lot of my ideas for paintings will either come from a, a sentence or phrase that I'll have someone will say in conversation, or maybe I'll pick up something on a line from a, and it'll just put a little idea in my head. And, um, and, and then I'll take that idea to the studio and play around with it and, and, uh, and see what comes out of it. You were mentioning to me that your daughter is going to go to Mecca next year. And when I suggested, oh, you've been a good influence on her, you said, well, actually, I don't really have that much to say the thing that she's done is to really work very hard herself and really be very motivated. So what I'm hearing from you is that your influence may not be the words that you speak to her, but maybe more the role modeling that you've been offered. Yeah. I think that's right. Uh, we very rarely paint together. And even our conversations about art are very limited, but I remember like when she was in kindergarten or first grade, she made this really neat, uh, I guess you'd call it a comic book series of cats. And, um, somehow she, after she did that, I think she must have got some pushback from some buddy that's saying, Hmm, this doesn't look like a real cat. So she kind of got away from art and I'm going to guess around second and third grade, and then through no work of mine directly, at least she found her way back and, and found her own voice in art. And now she does it on her own terms. Speaking of cats, um, I hear there's a motif that exists within your pieces. There is yep. Every piece I think for the past six years or so has a little tiny kitty hidden, hidden in it. Then Looking now I heard that this was true and I've been looking and looking for these kitties in your pieces. Is there one in the piece behind me There sure is? Yup. I can give you a hint. It's on one of the woman's shoulders. Okay. I'm going to look behind me now. Cause I, cause I, I feel like, you know, I should be able to, It's pretty small and I will, I'll tell you, it may look more like an aunt and I, I am ambivalent about cats. I don't have cats. I'm a little bit allergic to them. So I don't, if, if I won't go pet a cat just for allergic reasons, but I don't particularly like them, which is strange that I put them in, but I'll tell you why I started doing it. Um, I did a piece, I would say six or seven years ago called serenading the cats. And it was, my idea was that there was this old fishermen playing guitar in a, in a Seaport village and maybe Spain or Italy. And at the bottom of the painting, there were three or four big cats walking through the painting. And they were like feral cats. And he was just serenading, serenading these cats at the sea part. And that was, that was the title of the piece, serenading the cats. And somehow from that, it developed well developed me, put a, hiding a little kitty in every painting. I think I found the kitty. I think, I think I see it, but I think you're right. It actually does look more like an aunt than, than a kitty. Yeah, it does look like it because my work is not very detailed as you can tell. Well, it isn't, it isn't, I mean, the, you have, you have very specific lines that, that I'm seeing. I mean, it's definitely not, it's definitely not abstract, Right? Yup. True. Yup. No, it's, uh, it's fake. I guess we can call it figurative work. Cause there's, there's figures in almost every painting. And I Hear that somebody that owns a gap, one of the galleries had actually labeled it as expressionism. Yes. Yup. Yup. I would, I would buy that. I would say it's expressionism. So, but you just kind of said, okay, that sounds good. It doesn't sound like it's that important to you as to what it's actually labeled True. Yeah. I, um, I, yeah, I don't care. I don't care what it's called or labeled or So as you've moved into this next phase of your life where you really focus on art full-time after having, you know, had multiple different careers, um, have you needed to do anything differently as far as the way that you approach your time or approach your, um, attitudes toward being an artist? Um, I don't know, but I think the one thing that, that I, that is always in my mind is the idea of selling art. And I try, I think pretty well to keep that out of the studio. So when I'm in the studio painting, I try not to think about, is this a piece that somebody would buy? Um, that's, it's, I think it's almost impossible to get that idea completely out of my head because that is my career and I do need to sell art that's as important to me to be able to eat. So I do, I try. And for the most part, I, I do well at this to keep that idea out of the studio. So You've kind of identified this as a theme that, you know, if you focus too much on what we call the super tentorial or the sort of the ideas and the thoughts that it really kind of interacts with your creative process, whether you're a child or whether you're an adult, who's trying to sell art. So that, that must've been an interesting practice for you over the years to kind of make that disconnect. Yup. Yeah, it has been interesting and it's, and it's taken work, it takes work and practice. It took work and practice for me to get there. And I think, uh, I did one piece, um, and I think this piece might be in your studio right now, the, uh, of the man playing guitar, the woman dancing with the city behind them. Yeah. So that painting was done during a phone call. I was having with somebody and I, I, so my attention was on the phone call and the person I was talking to and I painted that painting on the phone with her. And I looked at the painting after the phone call. I said, this is one of my favorite paintings ever because, and I put, I wasn't thinking, you know what I mean? I wasn't thinking about painting while I was doing it. I just did it. It's a gorgeous piece. I mean, I, I love the orange, um, kind of background and the gold, uh, ground and the, the man with the red guitar and the cityscapes and the little hearts on the little bit on the buildings. I mean, it's, it's really beautiful and vibrant. What, what makes it one of your favorite pieces? Well, first of all, this is almost always true that my favorite painting is the last one I did. That is not the last one, but it was maybe it was close to the last one, but I think just the vibrancy of the colors of that painting really, uh, drawn me to it. I would agree with that. Yeah. When I, when I look at your pieces, you know, there are some, some, um, artists that I feel more drawn to their work than others. And there's something about your pieces that I can definitely relate to, which is interesting for me. I mean, I grew up in Maine. I haven't spent much time outside of the state of Maine, but I mean, these, these pieces make me want to, you know, hop on a plane and start traveling again, post COVID and, you know, experiencing the world and really kind of, um, opening myself up to my senses, you know, and, and dancing in the streets. Yeah, that's perfect. Yeah. If I can get that feeling from somebody, then, then I feel like I did my job. And what about you? What are your plans for future travel and for tapping back into that, that wanderlust that you once had as a, as a young person in the Navy? Yeah, I do. I do want to travel again. I have a little problem leaving my studio. I spent a lot of time in the studio, like maybe an average of 80 hours a week in the studio. And I ju I, I really love it. And my kind of inner struggle is that I tell myself, Rick, you go, you need to go out and live these things that you're painting, but there's not a moment that I'm in the studio that I regret or that I have an unhappy moment. So I just, I love being there. And it's just the struggle that I have that, um, I, I want to go out and live life, but that would mean I'd have to leave the studio That reminds me of the quote that something like love what you do. And you'll never work another day in your life. Something like that. Yup. Yup. I believe that I even have trouble saying what I do is work. Yeah. I don't, it's not, to me. It's, it's not work. It's just, if I had, if I could do anything in my life at this moment, it would be, I'd be in the studio painting. Do you think that doing all of these other things that you've previously done have led you to this place where you really appreciate the opportunity to do this work that you love? Yeah, definitely. Definitely. Yeah. And, and I know for fact that while I was living those experiences, I didn't think like that. Uh, I didn't think that I had no idea that it would lead to a career in art, but I believe that that if I didn't live the life that I did, then I wouldn't paint the way I paint. So what was the kind of the moment, the aha moment for you where you said, oh, wait, I know what I want to do. I'm going to, and I'm going to dedicate myself to this. Yeah. I really think that, that first day that I painted with a 10 year old girl up on Muncho Hills, one of those moments, um, and then I think the rest of it was just a gradual feeling that, that developed over time. I don't really, I can't really think of one other big aha moment other than that one. So something about that experience with that little girl and that return to maybe your own, your own inner child actually kind of reintroduced you to your past self and helped you become your future self. Yep, totally did. Yeah, it really did. And I've since reconnected with that girl and she's got her family of her own and, and, uh, she still lives here in Portland. Oh. So This is several years ago and now she's, she's grown up. And, and is she still doing art? No. Nope. She's not, not yet. Not yet. True. It could come back around again. Yup. I really do. I still, like I said before, I believe every one of us as an artist, we really are For people who are interested in kind of getting back into art. Do you have any suggestions for them? Just go buy some paints the way you did. Yup. Simple. Get a piece of paper or a piece of cardboard and paint or pencil or anything and just create something, just start doing it, Start where you are and don't get too worked up about the details or letting your brain interfere in any way. Totally. Yeah, absolutely. And there's a, I think I'll get this quote wrong or I know I'll get it wrong, but there's a quote from Andy Warhol that, that I, that I look at con a lot. Uh, and, and it's something that goes like, don't worry about whether your art is good or bad, let other people decide whether they like it or they hate it. And while they're deciding go make more art, I think that's a wonderful quote. And I, I would agree. I mean, obviously, as I've said to you, your art makes me happy. It's already made my morning. So I appreciate your putting out there in the world and, and taking the time to kind of work at it and get to a place where other people can. No, thank you, Lisa. Rick, I've enjoyed my conversation today with you. I've been speaking with artists, Rick Hamilton. And for those of you who've been listening or watching, please go to the Portland art gallery in Portland, uh, to see his pieces or actually the Portland art gallery website. There's a lot of his stuff. Um, but there may not be much left cause I might need to snap it all up and put it in my house. So you better get there quick. Thanks Rick. Thank you, Lisa.