Leigh with Lisa, Michael and Charlie Oct '97 |
Painting did not become a really serious part of Leigh’s life until 1980 when he and his family moved to the North Coast town of Bellingen. There, inspired by his surroundings and the opportunity of early semi-retirement from his building business, he turned to art. Landscapes and portraiture came naturally to Leigh who was able to draw on 15 years of draughting and the excellent training he had from his art teachers in making his creative fantasies become works of art. He was successful from the outset in art competitions and in selling his works. Within a few years Leigh realized that working in two dimensions did not satisfy his sense of form nor express his passion for the tactile and sensuous. So canvass was largely replaced in his creative surge by timber, and studying the masters was replaced by summer schools with sculptors Steffan Bruigisser and Bert Fugleman. |