Iona Leishman Art
Company Description:
For over 20 years, I have developed my own way of making art, creating landscapes, townscapes, seascapes and what I call peoplescapes where my 'felt' energies emerge and historic figures and many horses can emerge. Over the years, I have exhibited in a number of galleries, most recently The Castle Gallery in Inverness, I work to commission and currently teach adults and children in creative workshops at The Moray Art Centre, Findhorn. My images emerge from layered oil paint and ink, becoming an historical narrative of ancient lands and people. By building colour and texture with mixed media, my felt energies become visible through suggestive paint. Painting outside is a joy for me and my work is completed in my studio at Kinloss, Morayshire to which you are all welcome as part of North East Open Studios 10-18 September 2022.
Describe the impact of your location on your business:
My sense of place always impacts my work and I hope that this strength of connection speaks through my paint. Living in Findhorn, I am moved by the sturdy pines and birches around the bay, the quiet beauty of the interior forest, the splintering powerful light on the beaches and the power of the wind and rain. I feel the movement of Pictish people who would moved across this landscape and all of it informs my inner seeing and art-making. I feel energetically attached to the feeling of Scotland and her people, so many of whom left these shores over the centuries and wish to create more work based on this diaspora. I lived and worked on the island of Canna in the Inner Hebrides, creating a body of work over several years about the place and its people. When I was Historic Environment Scotland’s first artist in residence at Stirling Castle, many powerful figures from the past filled my paintings as I described battle scenes and court intrigue. My work was exhibited in the Castle's Chapel Royal commemorating the Batlles of Flodden and Bannockburn and the life of Marie de Guise, mother of Mary, Queen of Scots.
What would you list as your biggest achievement(s)?
My art has taken me to Indonesia and all over Scotland, to book festivals and islands, to grand houses and crofts,. It is a wonderfully privileged experience, but whenever someone connects with my work to such an extent they want to buy it and live with it, then that is a wonderful achievement. I think that when I paint about the human condition, no matter what century I speak about and it still speaks to us now, then I feel content.
Website and Social Media Channels:
http://www.ionaleishman.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/ional...
https://www.instagram.com/iona...
Check out “Iona Leishman: Beyond the Canvas” from Stirling University Production on Vimeo.
The video is available for your viewing pleasure at https://vimeo.com/212734719
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