Lee was a series artist, exploring themes related to his evolving personal shifts and many intrigues: like fatherhood with his interpretation of toyland, his love of gardening, and topics that encompassed intrigue with archetypal imagery, philosophy, esoteric arts, gender definitions, and so much more. He worked in bold colors, expressing the serious play his elf-like personality exuded, and transformed his West Tisbury home into an opulent salon and museum for his creations.

Richard introduced his reverse glass pictures at a Beverly Hills exhibit in 1965. Shows in Munich, Paris and Los Angeles followed. Twelve years later he found himself on Martha's Vineyard, by way of Hawaii and Colorado. Small format devotional verre églomisé dates back to 13th Century Italy. Lee's paintings vary in scale and are fantastical syncretistic journeys in imagination kindred to a Hieronymus Bosch, whom he sometimes called his "grandfather". He would often begin with painting the frame, unconventionally conceptually curating the subject and narrative influenced by the surrounding molding.