Richard was born in 1965 in Johannesburg.

He is a self-taught artist. He has mainly worked as a freelance illustrator of children’s books for the past 25 years. These children’s books included include "A Turtles Journey", Allie makes a Difference”, and "The Guineafowl’s Spots and Other African Bird Tales". Richard was shortlisted for the South African Illustrator of the year award in 2002. During this period he also produced murals, T shirt designs, set painting for commercials and posters for environmental campaigns. He also continued as a fine artist with an emphasis on oil painting, as well as acrylic and watercolour mediums, and worked on a commission basis on individual paintings.
 

Richard returned recently, full time, to his love of oil paintings. His focus is often the African landscape as a stage for imaginative interactions. Due to his past experience as an illustrator, there is always a narrative element in his paintings, with an invitation for the viewer to construct their own story.