Paul Richmond soars with Phoenix & Butterfly Wings

Monterey, California based queer artist Paul Richmond in his studio. (Photo courtesy of Paul Richmond)

Paul Richmond’s paintings are mind-blowing.  Filled with abstraction of color, motion, form and vibrancy, they focus on the unique identity of the subject and that subject’s inner life with its own abstraction of pain, joy and spirit.   They often blend beauty with whimsy, intrigue with eroticism. 

Paul has gained international notoriety, publication in numerous art journals and anthologies as well as exhibition in galleries and museums through the United States. 

In full disclosure, I personally have been the subject of one of Paul’s paintings, a piece in his Promiseland exhibit called Echoes.  Seeing yourself from Paul Richmond’s perspective is not just seeing your face on a wall… he lets you see what your soul looks like.

When you meet him, with his boyish exuberant personality, he is completely accessible, but after a few minutes of watching him work, you know you are in the presence of someone extraordinary.

He is on the verge of soaring to great heights.  The wings with which he flies are not just his own, however.  They are from his phoenix and his butterfly.  Two womanly forces – one that has inspired him, and one that has been a thorough and life-saving guiding force to his personal accomplishment.

The Phoenix:  Linda Regula

Linda Regula was Paul Richmond’s life-long art instructor. Paul met her when he was 4 years old. Linda’s art was both her expression and her release of the pain of abuse she had suffered.  She embraced the image of the phoenix,

““Being poor, shy, skinny, and motherless, I was bullied unmercifully as a child. When I was in the fourth grade, I drew a phoenix:   I colored its feathers emerald green, ruby red, violet, and cobalt blue.  I drew glowing embers scattered beneath its feet,   to indicate that the great bird was rising from sooty ashes.”  Her phoenix was given a place of honor in her classroom, but was soon destroyed by her bully. ”Memory of that bully destroying my phoenix drawing still remains as if that magnificent fire bird, its feet coated with hot ashes, had actually walked across my brain.”

In the fourth grade, Paul was badgered and abused himself. He did not confide this to Linda, mostly due to shame and confusion he felt, but she became aware of his change in mood and demeanor.  When he finally did open up, enough, she encouraged him to “paint about it.”

 “Taking pride in myself as an artist was my life raft,” he says. “Linda encouraged me to take all of those feelings and express them in art, I hadn’t really considered that before.   — that art could be a way for me to deal with what was happening at school and in my life.”

The Butterfly:  Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton loves butterflies.  They are attention getting, fabulous and always soaring to new colorful heights.  They are the definition of Dolly Parton. As a young teenager Richmond held the ultimate butterfly, Dolly Parton, up as a role model. 

“As I got older, I became more aware of her personality and who she was, I just really related to her.  There were a lot of similarities actually between her and Linda,   They are both creative inspiring people who really shine a big light in the world. So, Linda was first, but I think it was kind of natural for me to latch on to Dolly as a role model because she was so similar in many ways to the role model that I already had.”

Paul’s youthful determination to meet The Butterfly paid off.  He persuaded both his parents and Parton’s handlers to allow him to bring her a piece of art when she opened Dollywood. He was 12 years old.

Years later, inspired by a Dolly reference on his website, The World of Wonder gallery in Los Angeles contacted him and asked him to submit a piece for their Dolly-Pop exhibition.  He created a fanciful piece.  In the canvas, Dolly appears in the Glinda Good Witch bubble above the yellow brick road in front of a 4-year old boy who stands transfixed… wearing a pair of grown woman’s high healed shoes.  A huge butterfly is featured prominently in the painting. 

A print of the painting also ended up in Dolly’s dressing room. “I wanted to represent the feeling she really opened up a whole world to  -- Experience more of this big colorful amazing world for which Dolly was the entry point,” Paul told me.

The Phoenix Rises and the Butterfly Sings

Linda Regula died in July of 2020.  Her passing intensified Paul’s commitment and involvement in an organization they had co-founded called the You Will Rise Project.

Its logo is the phoenix. You Will Rise provides “a multimedia showcase for people of all ages who have been bullied to share their stories through the arts.“

Shortly after Linda’s passing, Paul heard from Parton’s art director.  They wanted to commission a Paul Richmond painting for Dolly Parton’s living room…  a painting of butterflies.

Paul had a great conversation and shared about his back story, about Linda, and his love of Dolly.  He told them about You Will Rise, and an online fund raiser they were doing for a scholarship in Linda’s name.  “Well, I think that Dolly would really like to be part of that,” the director stated.

Last Fall, You Will Rise and ArtCOZ (the Artist Colony of Zanesville) presented a virtual event honoring Regula’s legacy and established the Linda Regula Legacy Scholarship Fund.

The event included the donation of a rhinestone-studded autographed guitar from Parton’s personal collection.

And Dolly Parton sang a livestream tribute to Linda.  The butterfly serenaded the phoenix.

“It was really beautiful to see the intersection of these two incredible women. Two women who were so important to me, come together in this way, at this event.  It was really powerful. It meant so much,” Paul says.

As for the future, Paul continues both his art and his activism.  He has a renewed passion to the You Will Rise Project. Paul seeks to also emulate his role model, Parton, the Butterfly.  He says of her recent contribution to the fight against COVID 19:

“Dolly has always been about spreading love and acceptance of everybody. I felt like this was such a meaningful way for her to contribute something so important right now.  Then to also make a video of herself getting the vaccine to help hopefully inspire those who might have fears about it. Maybe she can reach people that others can't”

As Paul and I finished our talk, he commented with a twinkle of an eye, “There are things coming up that I can’t yet tell you about for this interview.  But stay tuned.”

I got butterflies….