Richard was born at Wentworth NSW Australia and grew up with three sisters on a property on the Darling River called Tara. He was taught to draw as a child by aboriginal children using layers of wet clay on the banks of the river. Drawing and painting became a lifelong interest as a way of expressing ideas, dreams and memories.
He won a scholarship to the University of Melbourne in 1970 where he completed undergraduate degrees in Psychology, Fine Arts and postgraduate degrees in the health sciences followed by more recent studies at the University of Ballarat including Visual Arts. His employment includes lecturing for several years at the University of Melbourne, clinical work and research at the National Acoustic Laboratories, teaching at the Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Victorian Eye & Ear, Royal Children’s Hospital, and Ballarat Health Services. Richard established Australia’s first newborn hearing screening program in seven Victorian maternity wards in 1997, and set up several hearing clinics throughout Melbourne and rural Victoria.
Richard moved to Tamborine Mountain Queensland Australia with his family in 2008 and built his studio on Mount Tamborine. His techniques and paintings with watercolour and ink, developed and refined over forty years, are influenced by his childhood experience with the First Australians. Richard often uses music and song lyrics for inspiration to create images and usually plays music while painting to be totally absorbed by the creative process. His favourite musicians include Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Patti Smith and Pink Floyd whose lyrics provide a rich variety of inspiration for his paintings.
