I do not recall studying 'Art' at my boarding school, though I do remember being introduced to some good literature. What gave me the most intense aesthetic pleasure was the colours, patterns and shapes of butterflies and moths. I had been collecting butterflies and moths from an early age. That is probably what drove me in the direction of studying Biology, and eventually teaching it in state schools.

When studying for my Zoology degree, I became very interested in the Arts, including the visual arts. I already knew something about the Impressionists, and also about Matisse, Picasso, Braque and Cezanne. I soon became very interested in British artists of the day, including people like Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton and William Scott. I remember that one day I wandered in to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and was confronted by Lanyon's 'Offshore', which had recently been acquired, one that I did not previously know about. Seeing it gave me an immediate physical jolt in my solar plexus. 

As I was beginning to paint during those days, there was so much going on in the Art world, including the USA, that I did not really develop a consistent direction in my work.  All the artists mentioned above probably did have, and still do have, some influence on the work I began producing in 2011, but I would say that I still find Cezanne really important to me, more than anyone. I am also now in some ways influenced by the figurative work of Richard Diebenkorn, which I first saw at the 1964 Tate  exhibition 'Painting and Sculpture of a Decade (54-64)' . I still have the catalogue.

Today I am primarily a painter, but I also find drawing very important, and use it in my practice. I mainly paint in oils, on various supports, mostly board or wood panels. My work is often landscape-based, though I would say there is always a degree of abstraction. I do not think of what I paint in my 'landscape' work as 'views'.  For instance, there is often not a single viewpoint.

Living in Dorset since 1970, I continue to walk and explore the local landscape, both the coastal aspects of the Purbecks and the Fleet lagoon towards Weymouth, but also inland.  As I taught A level students about the Ecology of Dorset habitats over the years, I think that this developed a 'feel' for the place which informs aspects of my painting.

My colours, specifically in my landscape-based pieces, are relatively naturalistic. I use good quality paints, but rarely use any colour straight out of the tube. 

Each of the works submitted for this exhibition makes some reference to erosion over time. 

One of these three works includes a WW2 pillbox which is almost exactly my age. I have enjoyed exploring the visual relationships between these brutalist and hard-edged objects and their organic surroundings in over forty separate works.

Born in Birmingham 1940. Dick currently lives in Dorset.
Education:
BSc (Hons) degree in Zoology and Comparative Physiology, University of Birmingham, 1963. Followed in 1965 by PGCE (Science, Biology) teacher training course.

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, two years, part-time, 2012-2014, at West Dean College.

Dick developed a very strong interest in the visual arts during the early 1960s. During the final term of his PGCE course, as an 'optional extra', he studied oil painting techniques with a tutor from the Art Department at the University. He was the only student, and this gave him some grounding in working with oils.  He first started painting on his own around this time, and continued until about 1972.

He began teaching in Birmingham in 1965, working there for three years, and by that time was already married, with a daughter. In 1968 the family moved to Brighton, where Dick taught for two years, before moving to Dorset in 1970. He then taught in a Dorset school for 32 years. His wife Heather died in 2008.

In 2011 Dick started painting seriously. He was helped by working with two very good artist / teachers, and of course by several excellent tutors during his West Dean Foundation Diploma.  He was selected as a member of Bournemouth Arts Club / Southern Contemporaries in 2013, which introduced him to several very accomplished artists.  He started submitting work to Open (Selected) exhibitions in 2013.

Exhibitions

Currently Dick is exhibiting in 'Concrete Castles - Britain's War Defences 1940', curated by Tim Craven.  This touring show, with about 30 artists, began in 2021 at Bodmin Keep, Cornwall, and the third and current show is in Monmouth. 

Some Open Exhibitions:

Bath Society of Artists Annual Open Exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
2022, 2020 (online only), 2018

Black Swan Arts Open, Black Swan Arts, Frome
2022 (2 works), 2019, 2016 (Highly Commended)

Royal Society of Arts, (RA), London, Summer Exhibition
2018, 2016 (2 works)

Royal West of England Academy (RWA) Bristol Annual Open Exhibition
2018, 2017 (3 works), 2015, 2014

The St Barbe Open Exhibition, St Barbe Museum, Lymington
2018

Additional exhibitions are listed on Dick's website.