Born in Cincinnati, on December 25, 1947, Richard V. Fowler "Rich" graduated from Greenhills High School in 1966 and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Rio Grande College in southeastern Ohio in December of 1972. During this phase of his life Rich was far more interested in athletics than art, after playing basketball in high school and college Rich was looking forward to a teaching/coaching career. Upon completion of his military service with the USAF in 1976, he returned to Ohio and served as the Athletic Director for the Ohio State University Lima Campus for six years. During his tenure at OSU Lima, Rich also coached men’s basketball, women’s volleyball, and golf, before moving on to Navajo Community College in Arizona.

Rich began to paint in 1990, after receiving a Bill Alexander starter set of oil paints for Christmas and with no formal art training Rich began teaching himself to paint by trial and error. Blessed perhaps with more persistence than talent, Rich has continued to grow as an artist. He has often said that he paints places he would like to be thus accounting for his many landscapes involving mountains, lakes and streams.

In 1996 Rich and his wife Barbara opened the Brush & Palette Frame Shop in Batesville, Indiana. Although the business revolves around custom framing it does provide Rich with a venue to display and sell his artwork.