Year: 1952 - 1954
Occupation: Artist

Raymond is the best drawer of birds NZ and possibly the world has ever seen. He painted 240 illustrations for the R.D. Book of British Birds, (1969) which, translated into 11 languages and still in print, is the most successful book on birds published in Europe. He has published over ten books of birds and his drawings and paintings are exhibited in the major galleries of NZ. Raymond lives in England and wrote this when asked for his Bio: I had always enjoyed the status of best drawer in our house (no competition, really) and so I was altogether unprepared for the display of draftsmanship shown us in demonstration on the first day at Wellington Tech. Those inspirational marks were made by Fred Ellis who was, to my great good fortune, Head of the Department of Art at that time, and the wonder of seeing such drawing skills has never left me. His contemporaries regard him as the greatest painter of birds ever.