Richard began drawing as a child but did not begin to consider art as a full-time career until he was 30, when he started an art access course at Pontypool. He went on to study illustration at Carmarthen and has been a professional artist for 10 years.

Cardiff-born, he has lived most of his life in Cwmbran where he often finds inspiration in the surrounding countryside and the relationships of buildings to landscape.

He takes a traditional approach to his painting, in all mediums, and insists that art must convey beauty. "There is too much ugliness in the world and I don't want to add to it," he says.

Richard is associated with the Victoria Gallery, Pontnewydd, Cwmbran; tel. 01633 482332 or 07775 788352.