PARSONS, Richard Thomas

1925 - 2000

Richard Thomas Parsons was born at Liverpool on 1 July 1925, son of John Parsons (born 18 January 1891), an advertising novelty designer, and his wife Katherine Gwladys née Thomas (13 February 1894-2 March 1982), who married at Liverpool in 1924 and in 1939 were living at 12 Delhi Road, Edmonton, London. Richard studied for five years at Hornsey College of Art and in 1953 began his career as an art teacher at a school in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. In 1959 he moved to East Anglia, as a lecturer in Graphic Design and Display at Lowestoft School of Arts and Crafts and was then Vice Principle and Head of Graphic Design at Great Yarmouth College 1964-1967. He then took the position as Head of Lowestoft School of Art until his retirement in 1982. A painter, designer and illustrator producing illustrations for books and magazines, working for major publishers which included Frederick Warne & Co., and MacMillian & Co. Richard also wrote short stories, made wooden toys, models and furniture, but it was in painting that he found his greatest pleasure, exhibiting regularly from 1959 onwards. His subjects varied over the years, experimenting with distinctive styles but working in acrylics on board, with the influence of East Anglia’s vast skies and unique quality of light evident in his work. He often painted in the Southwold and Walberswick area of Suffolk and was one-time president of the Southwold Art Circle. Richard's work is widely collected and has been exhibited at galleries in London and throughout East Anglia, including a solo show at the John Whibley Gallery in London. He married in 1955, Christine Mary Berkeley and they had a son and a daughter. Richard Thomas Parsons died at Lowestoft on 10 August 2000.

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Works by This Artist