What speaks to me in Richard’s work is its apparent simplicity. I’m a minimalist at heart, I’m always looking to reduce complexity in anything I do; in life, work and art. So, the rawness and energy that he achieves with smart use of colour and a simple palette knife have me addicted. Like with most simplicity, it’s what you don’t see that counts. Years of practice, an expert in colour. I’m sure he’s spent years and years and years painting, then refining, then painting again. It’s only this tireless life’s work that can result in what we’re seeing him produce lately.
A chance introduction to Richard’s work
My first experience of Richard Musgrave-Evans’ work was while I was on my artist residency in Adelaide in 2017. In my mission to find the most hipster coffee shop that Adelaide had to offer, all signs pointed to Tall Henry. So, off I went, strolling in unfamiliar suburbs on my way to great coffee. It wasn’t until I could smell the beans being roasted that my eye caught sight of a bright orange and pink painting. It was clearly an Australian sunset, the afternoon light hitting red cliffs and making them blaze against a blue and purple sky. I had just returned from a driving holiday to Uluru so the painting brought back immediate memories. This piece was sitting in the Worth Gallery, next door to Tell Henry. I remember standing in front of that gallery (closed at the time) for a good 20 minutes drinking in all the details of the smudge and smear of expertly placed paint. Who is this? How much is this piece? When is the gallery open? These questions ran through my head but having not been caffeinated yet, I pulled myself away.
I returned day after day to the Worth Gallery to look at the piece and investigate its subtleties. Day after day, the gallery wasn’t open. Was the gallery even functioning anymore?
Anyway, with seemingly no one around to open this gallery I considered the piece out of my reach. I continued my residency and promptly flew back to Melbourne to continue ‘life as normal’.
A piece that wouldn’t leave
Over the course of the summer, I thought about this painting time and time again. Who was that person? How would I find them? My illustration schedule was too tight to permit me to investigate it more intentionally and so I chalked it up to a fleeting experience.
Re-discovering Richard
I can’t remember how I came across Richard again. Perhaps it was Instagram? An algorithm? I think I was feeling disappointed in not being able to find any artist that was representing our beautiful Australian desertscapes in a contemporary way. There was plenty of indigenous art, or more representational and colour-accurate work but nothing ‘fun’. And so, I stumbled across this guy called Richard Musgrave-Evans. It wasn’t the same piece I saw in the Worth Gallery window, but there was something interesting about it. As I dug in more and more, I realised that this was, in fact, the same guy! Is that fate? Great algorithm-ing? Who knows. It really doesn’t matter.
Inspiration and a drive to explore
Richard has a brilliant social media presence. He’s regularly engaging on Instagram and his YouTube videos, whilst crudely created, are full of rich advice and demonstration. They’re a gift to the world.
The one thing that I’ve always loved about watercolour over other mediums like acrylics or oils is how convenient watercolour is. It’s easy to clean, not messy, and very transportable. But Richard’s restrained colour palette and direct use of a palette knife for applying paints give a traditionally messy medium (oil paints) much higher accessibility and convenience. Watching him work was like a B12 shot to get me painting. You mean I don’t need turps and linseed oil and crazy fumey chemicals to get into this medium?
Because of this, I’ve been sinking any spare time and money I have into exploring the possibilities of painting with a palette knife because of Richard. I can feel it changing the way I think about colour and an approach to ‘painting’; an activity I’ve never really felt comfortable with, despite my abilities in book illustration.
I strongly encourage you to take a look at Richard’s work. Follow him on your social channels because he’s giving SO much to all of us. Even if you don’t like his style, or don’t identify with the way he paints, there’s something to learn in watching him, even if it’s just how peaceful it is to eat damper and drink tea in the dying light of the Australian Outback.