Paisley Mountain Press: You have such an interesting story. I think that is why we were also drawn to you – because there are a lot of sports growth moments in Kentucky Hustler. What was your transition like from baseball to art? Maybe you could tell us a little more about your transition from baseball into art…

Richard Sullivan: I was always in art school, or in art class as a kid and I never really knew what I was going to do with it. I always knew I was talented, but I never really pushed it when I was a kid. It was always baseball. (Baseball) was kind of my main goal. Because in life, as a kid, (baseball) is what made me feel special. I never really knew who I was as an artist until much later. I was fortunate enough to go to a school with an art degree at SCAD, Savannah College of Art and Design, and a baseball program. I was recruited as a baseball player to this art school. So it was a really unique experience. It was the first time I felt like I belonged somewhere. Because in high school, as an athlete, having this artistic reference nobody really understood who I was. I didn’t know who I was. At SCAD I felt at home a little bit more. Then I was drafted out of SCAD and played professional baseball for six years. I think I was really overwhelmed that whole time. I knew I was good, but I didn’t know how good I was. (Being drafted) kind of validated all of these things, but I also didn’t think I was good enough to get to the big leagues either.  The higher I got, the more pressure I put on myself. And that whole transition into art, after six years in minor league baseball, felt very chaotic too. I was like “okay, now what?” I had to figure it out very quickly. I had a year left in school. So, I went back and finished my degree. That’s all I knew. I didn’t know what was going to happen after that. There was all of this uncertainty, and I think I thrived on the uncertainty in my 20s. I really loved the chaos of not knowing what was going to happen in a week or in a month. I think it was all flying by the seat of my pants at that point, but I anchored myself in sports because that’s where I had the most comfort. So I started painting my friends, and people that were still playing and had made it to the big leagues. There was this level of known and unknown. I love capturing, I love being a part of baseball still. And still feeling like I was playing a little bit because I was painting these people.