12 Facts About Richard Shilling

Richard Shilling was born on 1973 and is a British artist and photographer working in the field of land art and sculpture in the North West of England.

Richard Shilling is currently artist in residence at The Middlewood Trust, Roeburndale.

Richard Shilling is self-taught and works intuitively, hoping to become more familiar with and absorbed in the landscape.

Richard Shilling spent his early life there, studying and working in Kent, before moving to Lancashire in 2005.

Richard Shilling has had no formal artistic training and began by copying Goldsworthy's sculptures closely to deconstruct his methods.

Richard Shilling's inspiration came from Andy Goldsworthy whose work he initially studied and copied, before developing his own style.

The art can last for as little as a few minutes to several months and Richard Shilling often revisits the art to document how it alters over time.

Richard Shilling uses small, commonplace natural materials to draw attention to the beauty in nature that is often overlooked, for example creating circular or mandala type designs from leaves and sticks.

Richard Shilling has created many commissioned art works including public work for Lakes Alive festival in Cumbria and Down By the Riverside festival in the Forest of Bowland.

Richard Shilling has said that this can be a particular challenge as he doesn't wish to deviate from his method of only using foraged natural items from the surrounding area, and the materials he uses have an inherent ephemerality which can conflict with creating a public artwork which would last for several days.

Richard Shilling teaches land art and holds workshops in Lancashire and Muncaster Castle, Cumbria and teaches both adult and children in the UK and abroad the techniques he uses.

Richard Shilling has self published 6 books, available in print and digital editions.