Hi, I’m Chris Richards, a landscape artist who lives and works on the edge of the Brecon Beacons in the village of Ystradgynlais. Born in 1980 in Swansea, I spent my early years living in Wales before my family relocated West Sussex when I was around five years old.
Self-taught and having an interest in art from an early age, I spent much of my childhood and teenage years drawing and painting. My interest art dwindled towards the end of secondary school when my path took the course of music production and recording, eventually leading to careers in theatre, the music industry, and professional photography in the following years.
After returning to live in my homeland of Wales in 2015, inspired by the Welsh landscape, I felt the urge to begin drawing and painting again.
After sporadic creative bursts of working on my art over the subsequent years, I finally got my own studio space in late 2019 and began making art regularly. I work with a variety of media including oil, acrylic, ink pen, watercolour, and soft pastel as and when the mood takes me.
A nobler want of man is served by nature, namely, the love of beauty.
RAlph waldo emmerson
Inspiration
There is barely a day that goes by where I am not in awe of the beauty of the Welsh landscape around me. In the relatively short time I have lived in Wales, I’ve explored a fair bit. I love being out in nature, whether it’s wandering the trails of the many majestic forests, relaxing on the shorelines of the lakes and reservoirs, taking in the views from atop the Brecon Beacons, or walking stretches of our incredible coastline.
Every season has its own inspiration to offer — fresh new foliage, luminescent in the hazy morning light in spring; deep blue skies with white fluffy clouds in summer, fiery displays of autumn foliage, and sunbeams through dramatic clouds following winter showers.
As an ex-professional photographer, I have a huge collection of photos I’ve taken over the years that form the basis of my works. I constantly take photographs when out and about capturing new ideas and inspiration for my art.
My work is my attempt to present how I see the world – through painting both sweeping vistas and epic skies but also the smaller more subtle displays of nature’s beauty. I want viewers of my work to experience not only the awe and wonder but also the sense of peace and tranquility I’ve felt at being present in the scenes I paint. I hope my paintings convey the magic of Wales and inspire others to take time out and explore for themselves.
Chris