The artist Leigh Davis came to visit us here at Blondes Fine Art in Hertfordshire, a few weeks ago and to deliver a painting . We sat down at the kitchen table and over a cup of tea , had a brief chat about his life and work. Leigh has agreed to work on a small collection of new paintings for us and these will be available very soon , so we are super excited to see them .
Melanie - Coffee or Tea Leigh ?
Leigh - Tea please , milk no sugar.
Mel- How did you get started , and what influenced you ?
Leigh - In my early career I was greatly influenced by my father who was a product designer and so decided to take a degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery at Vitoria street in Birmingham. After two years of studying I found myself becoming increasingly frustrated as I wanted to work on a larger scale and to be expressive.
Mark - I thought you went to Wolverhampton to study ? I remember this because being a life long Wolves supporter and having lived in the city, it stuck in my mind .
Leigh - I subsequently enrolled at Wolverhampton university to study ceramics with a minor subject in “3D Design Woods Metals & Plastics”. The skills learnt at that time - marrying, casting and forming metal; in ceramics throwing, slip casting and hand building - are skills that are all now employed in my sculptural work today.
Mel - When did you start painting?
Leigh - As for my painting and drawing, it is a subject I always practised throughout my school and university days. My initial style of painting was firmly rooted in realism - portraits, the figure, landscapes and still life. At the age of 22 a chance visit to St Ives led to my introduction to the abstract works of Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and their contemporaries. This visit greatly influenced the direction of my work alongside the light and atmosphere of the town.
Mark - Biscuit ? (declined) Is that why you were drawn to some of the work in our gallery - the Wilhelmina Barns Graham, Alastair Morton , Billie Waters abstract and the wonderful large elm sculpture of torsos by Michie Herbert .
Leigh - Yes , it is clear that Michie had close links to Hepworth as her work does have a similarity to it.
Mark - What did you do following Uni?
Leigh - After University I rented my first studio in the basement of a Tudor mansion house in Shrewsbury. (See image below) It was here I began to deconstruct my style of painting and sculpture. This was a very gradual process of isolating with the simplification of shapes, forms and colour.
Mel - Following you on Instgram I see from some photos that you have recently been to the East coast, do you paint from the photos?
Leigh - Today when I paint and sculpt I don’t rely on working from photos or drawings. Paintings are created by working from the memory of the atmosphere, light and colour of the landscape. In terms of composition I let the pieces take me on their own journey. The trip to Essex and Suffolk did produce some new paintings and I hope that you will like to exhibit some on your website .
Mel - Perfect , we are both looking forward to seeing the new work, it must be exciting for you too.
Leigh -I am continually pushing my boundaries in terms of style and application. I feel it’s important to see a development through work over the years and I am pleased with the new collection and hope you and your clients are too.
Mel and Mark would like to thank Leigh for his time and for the new body of work that will be on the website soon , so do keep checking .