About The Artist

Debbie Richards is an international artist/writer living and working in Suffolk, England. Her work can be found in collections in the USA, Singapore, Australia, The Netherlands, France and the UK.



"I'm very pleased that my painting 'Veiled Moon' was accepted on the Artists & Illustrators Magazine 'Artists of the Year' top 50 shortlist. It was on display at the Mall Galleries during February 2016.

My painting 'Springtime on Hadleigh Road' was also accepted by the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) for their Annual Open Exhibition at the Mall Galleries during March 2016.

My paintings 'Springtime on Hadleigh Road', 'Vineyard at Framlingham' and 'Burntwood Field' were accepted by Ipswich Borough Council and shown at their Art Gallery in Ipswich during the 'Open Call' exhibition' during September and October 2016 and summer 2019. My painting 'Poppy the Little Dog' was similarly shown by them in their 'Open Choice' exhibition during the summer 2016."

Artist's Statement:

"My paintings have been shown alongside works by John Piper, Bridget Riley and Henry Moore. In the past I have exhibited at The Affordable Art Fair, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Hunting Art Prizes exhibition at the Royal College of Art. In 2016 I have exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists' annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries. I am a member of the Ipswich Art Society (IAS), one of the oldest art societies in the country and I exhibit with them every year. I am currently working with the Gagliardi Gallery in Chelsea, London.

I was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, on the South West coast of England and now I live in Ipswich near the East coast. In 2005 I achieved a BA in Fine Art (Painting) from Glyndwr University in North Wales, which at the time was the Wrexham School of Art & Design and part of NEWI. I enjoyed the experience immensely. I also have a foundation diploma in Art & Design from North Cheshire College, an earlier degree in Psychology, an MBA (Master of Business Administration) from Manchester Business School.

My abiding interest has always been nature and my house is full of plants. While I may stray into other areas such as portraiture, my eye always comes back to plants, trees, sky and animals, birds in particular. I think humans are happiest when they stay connected with nature and this subject makes up the largest part of the artwork I create.

I broke my ankle early in 2018 and was in plaster for three months followed by a reinforced boot for five weeks. This forced me to change my painting process to accommodate not being able to stand up. As a result I temporarily have moved from large scale oil painting on canvas to small acrylic painting on heavy paper. I've discovered that the benefit of acrylic's fast drying property is that I can layer, scumble and use dry brush techniques that I wasn't able to do easily before. This has led me into more misty delicate landscape paintings compared to my earlier work. To my eye they look more complex and I like that. I've continued this in my oil paintings now that my ankle is fully mended.


Other interests:

I have three books published which are available on Amazon. The first, 'Krishnamurti's Angel', tells the disturbing story of a young Brahmin boy adopted by a group of expat Brits in colonial India at the beginning of the twentieth century. Part of an occult sect, they declare Krishnamurti to be the new Messiah who will lead their organisation to glory. This true story twists & turns through Edwardian India before crossing Europe just as German nationalism flares up into World War One.

Krishnamurti's Angel
Krishnamurti's Angel


Here is the link to Amazon:

Krishnamurti's Angel Sales Page On Amazon.co.uk


"The Skywhale"
"The Skywhale"


My second book is The Skywhale which has its own website at:

The Skywhale's webpage on Facebook

It can be purchased from Amazon:

the Skywhale's Sales Page On Amazon.com


'The Skywhale' was originally published by Canadian digital publisher, MuseItUp Publishing on 18th July 2014 on Kindle and is now available in paperback from Amazon, printed by CreateSpace Independent Publishing. This book is for older children and young adults and tells the story of two young people, George and his little sister, Esme, who accidentally discover a creature that can hover in the air and is frequently mistaken for a UFO. They spend most of the book worrying that the creature will be shot down by military fighter jets in similar fashion to what happened to an alien space ship at Roswell, New Mexico. The cover was created by Spanish illustrator, Carolina Bensler.

The sequel to 'The Skywhale' is called 'Evil Aliens Stole My Grandad'
"Evil Aliens Stole My Grandad"
"Evil Aliens Stole My Grandad"


It is a cautionary tale about what happens when George and his little sister, Esme, go to rescue an alien whom they've been talking to via an internet chat room.

It is available throughout the world via Amazon:

Evil Alien's sales page on Amazon.co.uk

The Artist

06/01/2011

Past exhibitions and commissions... ...more