Richard Bowers began his career as a portrait and landscape artist in 2015. Since then, his uniquely detailed work has attracted national recognition and catalog of renowned collectors, including Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, Derrick Henry, Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins, Luke Combs, Joe Walsh (Eagles), Shawn Johnson, Dave Haywood (Lady A), Taylor Lewan, and host of others. Richard occasionally participates in local art shows, but is a commission-focused artist. To commission a drawing, please email [email protected]

Richard lives/works in his home in Nashville with his wife and 3 sons.

 Publications

• Flower Magazine
• MILIEU Magazine
• Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles
• ​​​Scout Guide Nashville
• Nashville Interiors
• Southern Living Magazine
• The Southern Coterie
• Draper James
• Antiques and Garden
• StyleBlueprint Nashville
• OneKingsLane
• Serena & Lily

Inspiration

"I am captivated by detail. My work is simply an attempt to capture and bring attention to the existing beauty in the world, and ultimately point to the beauty of the one who created it. I long for my viewers (and myself) to slow down and notice; to renew our vision of the world, and appreciate its penultimate magnificence. It is increasingly easy to miss all of the wonderful details, oddities, brokenness, and mercies that make this world so beautiful. It takes practice to notice things, but I think it brings great joy. I hope that my art, in some way, helps people notice.

My inspiration for my current tree series is drawn from my own life experiences and passages of Scripture. Trees, like people, tell a story. They declare their imputed strength by showcasing their scars and flaws unabashedly. They remind me of the source of my strength and the hope of glory to come.

I am a wretched sinner saved by the amazing grace of Christ. I don't know how or why he loves me with such relentless and unconditional love, but he does - that's who he is. The Creator-God came to earth, out of perfect love, to redeem a people who hated, tortured, and killed him... people like me. I was dead in my sin, trying to quench my thirst for joy and purpose with anything that looked satisfying, all-the-while Jesus was beckoning me to himself, the fountain of living water."

Process

"I work with graphite, charcoal, ink, and occasionally colored pencil to create contemporary realistic works on paper. Studying and meticulously displaying the details in each piece often takes more than 100 hours. I embrace the labor involved in the craft of drawing because it is this rigorous process that draws me into a deep appreciation for the innate beauty of my subjects.

I am drawn to broken things (people and trees in particular) that show their created beauty in their details. My drawing process allows me to be engulfed in the amazing minutia of each subject and points me to believe that the beauty of this world is breathtaking, but not life-giving... there is something incomplete, either in this world or in us (or both), that gives us the longing for a beauty that is beyond this world. I have found that there is in fact a more beautiful reality that exists apart from us, yet among us, that invites us into it for all eternity... Namely, the infinite triune God of the Bible."

" At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendours we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in.”