Born in Masterton 1960 and was taken home to the farm with his twin sister. He left the farm when his father died and moved to Rotorua. His mother was an avid painter and Grandmother was a gifted musician.
“Drawing brought me some attention while at school. I first pencil sketched a bear when 5 and was asked to show the art class at Central School, Masterton.”
“A relation of mine was in the Irish Invincible and fought both for and against the Maori. Another relation, Matt Barr spoke fluent Maori and interpreted for fair deals with the Maori. I got on well with Maori while at school in Rotorua. I have a deep respect for the family structure and historical significance of art in Maori culture. Philip Holmes is a combatant in this path. Maybe this started my interest in painting Maori portraits. I started off copying paintings by C F Goldie as his colours used for the Maori skin colouring was exceptional; so was a good example to get the colour mix correct for the skin tones. I now do originals”.
Richard has worked with many mediums; pencil, ink, water, acrylics; and at present is working with oils. He like to paint historical pictures from old black and white photos and bring them to life with colour.
“A picture I enjoyed painting was from a black and white photo of Biddy of the Buller standing by a white picket fence; I painted it in colour with the Buller gorge in the background. Also from a black and white photo I painted a colour picture of Captain Preece which is in the Manawatu Museum, Palmerston North”.
He can paint anything – combining subjects from different sources into one picture. A friend wanted a painting of her dream home.
Richard included her and her husband at a wrought iron table having a cup of tea in the garden with their children playing in the background.
“I painted a picture from a small photo in a magazine of a hunter riding his horse with a pig over the saddle; A friend of his saw it and he recognised the hunter in my painting. My wife has been explaining a painting of our daughter hanging on our wall and the visitors had not realised it was a painting – thought it was a photo”.
Richard produces highly detailed art works and is open to commissioned projects.
Contact him here for Prints and Commissions.
