Born in Creswick, Victoria the natural beauty of the Australian bush is etched in Leishman’s memory. Filtering into her atmospheric paintings is the essence of her connection with the landscapes of her childhood. An overwhelming sense of openness and space is present in her landscapes. Long, sweeping brush strokes and an alluring palette of cool blues and greens and bold reds and oranges combine creating textured surfaces that appear to move and sway with the winds they are depicting.

Leishman explains “this series of paintings found its inspiration from the area of land around Clunes, in Victoria where I spent my childhood. This landscape is the place where my creative identity was formed and evolved through time manifesting in the way the compositions of my work are expressed.

Large skies and open spaces have always been in me right from the beginning when I made my first steps through the paddocks.

When I revisit the unchanging land the trees are older but my sense of place is just as strong.”

Also an illustrator for the Sydney Morning Herald, Leishman’s body of work spans two decades. The same mastery of colour and form found in her illustrations lures us into the evocative world of her oil paintings. With an enviable ability to translate her close relationship with the environment, Leishman is certain to impress audiences with this highly accomplished collection of recent works.

Leishman’s paintings are currently held in many public collections including Artbank, Parliament House Collection, Canberra, Bundanon Collection and Mitchell Libraries, Sydney. She can also be found in private collections throughout Europe and Australia.

Since 1987 she is employed as an artist for the Sydney Morning Herald.


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1983 W8 Gallery, London
1983 Thumb Gallery, London
1985 Opera House Gallery, Sydney
1985 Exposivo Gallery, Sydney
1987 Bondi Pavillion Gallery, Sydney
1991 North Sydney Contemporary Gallery, Sydney
1994 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1994 Coast to Coast Exhibition, Perth
1994 Ten Guineas Show, Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1994 Maritime Art Exhibition (P&O), Maritime Museum, Sydney
1994 Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney
1994 Blake Prize Exhibition and Tour [commended]
1995 Melbourne Contemporary Art Fair
1995 Blake Prize Exhibition and Tour
1996 Sulman Prize Exhibition, Art Gallery of N.S.W
1996 Charles Hewitt Gallery, Sydney
1996 Alice Prize, Alice Springs
1996 Blake Prize Exhibition and Tour
1996 Logan Prize, Brisbane
1996 George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
1997 “Salon Des Refuses” S H Ervin Gallery. Sydney
1997 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Pinnacotheca Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Parliament House Collection, Parliament House, Canberra
1997 Redlands Westpac Art Prize, Sydney
1997 Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne
1997 Alice Prize Exhibition, Alice Springs
1998 “Salon Des Refuses” S H Ervin Gallery, Sydney
1999 Australian Galleries, Sydney
1999 Redlands Westpac Art Prize, Sydney
1999 Tattersalls Landscape Prize, Queensland

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1982 Neil Street Gallery, London
1990 Holdsworth Gallery, Sydney
1991 Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1992 Bridge Street Gallery, Sydney
1993 Blaxland Gallery, Sydney
1993 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1994 BlaxIand Gallery, Sydney
1994 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1995 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1997 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
1999 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2000 BMG Art, Adelaide
2003 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Flinders Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2007 Gallery Savah, Sydney

COLLECTIONS
Art Bank,
Howard Smith Shipping,
Dunlop,
Parliament House Collection, Canberra
Bundanon Collection,
Ballarat Fine Art Gallery,
Hamilton Regional Gallery,
Private Collections in Europe and Australia.

REVIEWS
Sydney Morning Herald 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996.
Contemporary Australian Painting Craftsman House 1996