Richard Claremont is an Australian artist who was born in 1965 in Sydney. He attended a Steiner School, which placed a great emphasis on creativity and the development of the child. There were lessons about the Norse myths, ancient civilisations and old folk tales. It was a rich environment which developed a love of drawing with crayons and painting in watercolour.
Richard also discovered a love of mechanical things. “I would draw endless conveyor belts and pie-making machines with little attendants – there was something about factory automation which appealed to me, the idea that we were all somehow tiny cogs in a huge machine”.
In 1982 when Richard completed his HSC, he made the decision to study Visual Arts instead of Graphic Design. From 1983-1985 he completed a degree at Sydney College of the Arts, majoring in painting. His work from this time is semi-abstract, continuing the theme of mythology and man’s complex relationship to the world.
In 1988, to supplement his income, Richard became a postman. He found the time spent delivering the mail to be a good opportunity to think and plan his next painting. Richard became known as the “Painting Postie” on TV, after being discovered painting little oil studies on his daily mail route.
He is now an award winning artist/educator and included in Australia’s Top 100 list of collectable artists. With his wife Kerrie, he runs workshops around the world and has produced many online courses including “How To Loosen Up Your Painting”.
In 2020 Richard founded The Skilled Artist, an online art school that now connects over 1500 art students around the globe.