Richard Southall
Biographical notes
Richard has always had a great interest in natural history, as a very young boy he insisted that his father take him on frequent fossil hunting trips to the local limestone rock outcrops.
This early fascination with paleontology and natural animal form is evident in his work today.
Born in Staffordshire, Richard did not succeed at school; in fact at secondary school he was assessed as "backward", often scoring lower than 5% in examinations.
Always exceptional at art and drawing, his hopes were dashed, when, on leaving school, his application for Art College was rejected.
Almost fifteen years were to pass before Richard's artistic ability was to find an outlet. Desperate to follow his passion he applied for, and was accepted on, a three year sculpture course. The course was individually run by the artist Stuart Osborne, who had close association with Jacob Epstein as a student at Royal College. The course was predominantly figurative with great emphasis being placed on direct study from natural form and life drawing. The course was followed by four years in higher education, where he received a First Class Honours Degree in education.
In fact the educational system had missed the fact that Richard was dyslexic, once this little understood difference in brain neurology was identified he was able to exploit his natural talents - a deep understanding of form and imagination.
Richard is a member of the Arts Dyslexia Trust and exhibits with them regularly.
Field trips, research and travel are now more than ever proving central to his work. In 2002 the artist took an expedition voyage aboard a Russian ice breaker to the High Arctic island of Spitzbergen to observe arctic wildlife in its natural environment. Additional field trips are spent cruising the Irish Sea hoping to swim with basking sharks and diving in British and Mediterranean seas.
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