Wendy Leach's paintings are large, confident and visually powerful works.
Wendy is a graduate of both Elam School of Fine Arts, and Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design. She holds a Master of Fine Arts, 1st class Honours. She is also a qualified high school teacher. Over her career she has had 22 solo exhibitions and has exhibited in around forty group and collaborative shows. In her early career Wendy specialised in painting landscapes and she frequently travelled overseas to paint in France, Italy and the Middle East. In 2004 she had a solo exhibition in Jordan at the Al Hussein Society, Amman, 'Landscapes of Jordan'.
Wendy has worked with oil paint, acrylic paint, photography, oil pastel and multidisciplinary techniques. She has always enjoyed exploring the possibilities within techniques and materials. In 2000, Wendy was featured in Master Artists of the World in 'International Artist' magazine, published in USA, in an eight-page feature article.
Feeling in need of personal and artistic challenge and to push her art boundaries, in 2006 Wendy commenced study for a Master of Fine Arts degree. Her graduation exhibition was held in January 2008, and she was awarded Master of Fine Arts with First Class Honours.
Wendy regarded this body of MFA work - a blend of photography, painting and performance - as light painting, taking her practice of painting to a new level and exploring the possibilities and potential of light as a painting medium.
Since then her style has gone through quite deliberate changes and stages incorporating both realism and abstraction.
From 2009 to 2015 Wendy and her husband Colin lived and worked in Belgium. Wendy's Brussels art studio was the entire top floor of a traditional old house. Wendy taught drawing and painting classes in Brussels. When they returned to New Zealand they chose to live in Mangawhai Heads on the property they have owned for 24 years.
In February 2021 Wendy was featured in Aotearoa Artist magazine, due to her exhibition 'Full Circle' at Mangawhai Artists Gallery, 29 January - 10 February 2021. Her exhibition catalogue stated "Alongside the challenges 2020 brought to the world, Wendy Leach found beauty and hope in painting the splendid pohutukawa trees along Mangawhai’s ocean beach. She found strength in the dramatic tree forms, energy in the swirling coastal skies and inspiration in the changing light".
In February 2022 Wendy exhibited in a joint exhibition 'Finding Joy' alongside Cliff McPherson and Ian McGowan at Mangawhai Artists Gallery. The theme - to try to find joy in a Covid world. For Wendy, shimmering early evening light contrasts with dramatic shadow, held high in a twisting thatch of pohutukawa on Mangawhai ocean beach, painted with clarity, majesty and enchantment. This work captures Wendy's fascination for her subject with all the expression she's so well known for as a painter.
"I feel joy as a dynamic emotional energy. The power of nature energises and uplifts my spirit. In the surrounding darkness of Covid, I find light, alongside uncertainty and sadness".
Wendy is a graduate of both Elam School of Fine Arts, and Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design. She holds a Master of Fine Arts, 1st class Honours. She is also a qualified high school teacher. Over her career she has had 22 solo exhibitions and has exhibited in around forty group and collaborative shows. In her early career Wendy specialised in painting landscapes and she frequently travelled overseas to paint in France, Italy and the Middle East. In 2004 she had a solo exhibition in Jordan at the Al Hussein Society, Amman, 'Landscapes of Jordan'.
Wendy has worked with oil paint, acrylic paint, photography, oil pastel and multidisciplinary techniques. She has always enjoyed exploring the possibilities within techniques and materials. In 2000, Wendy was featured in Master Artists of the World in 'International Artist' magazine, published in USA, in an eight-page feature article.
Feeling in need of personal and artistic challenge and to push her art boundaries, in 2006 Wendy commenced study for a Master of Fine Arts degree. Her graduation exhibition was held in January 2008, and she was awarded Master of Fine Arts with First Class Honours.
Wendy regarded this body of MFA work - a blend of photography, painting and performance - as light painting, taking her practice of painting to a new level and exploring the possibilities and potential of light as a painting medium.
Since then her style has gone through quite deliberate changes and stages incorporating both realism and abstraction.
From 2009 to 2015 Wendy and her husband Colin lived and worked in Belgium. Wendy's Brussels art studio was the entire top floor of a traditional old house. Wendy taught drawing and painting classes in Brussels. When they returned to New Zealand they chose to live in Mangawhai Heads on the property they have owned for 24 years.
In February 2021 Wendy was featured in Aotearoa Artist magazine, due to her exhibition 'Full Circle' at Mangawhai Artists Gallery, 29 January - 10 February 2021. Her exhibition catalogue stated "Alongside the challenges 2020 brought to the world, Wendy Leach found beauty and hope in painting the splendid pohutukawa trees along Mangawhai’s ocean beach. She found strength in the dramatic tree forms, energy in the swirling coastal skies and inspiration in the changing light".
In February 2022 Wendy exhibited in a joint exhibition 'Finding Joy' alongside Cliff McPherson and Ian McGowan at Mangawhai Artists Gallery. The theme - to try to find joy in a Covid world. For Wendy, shimmering early evening light contrasts with dramatic shadow, held high in a twisting thatch of pohutukawa on Mangawhai ocean beach, painted with clarity, majesty and enchantment. This work captures Wendy's fascination for her subject with all the expression she's so well known for as a painter.
"I feel joy as a dynamic emotional energy. The power of nature energises and uplifts my spirit. In the surrounding darkness of Covid, I find light, alongside uncertainty and sadness".
GALLERY 2021 - 2025
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GALLERY 2016 - 2020
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