Leigh was born in 1947 in Melbourne. From an early age, Leigh Hewson, as he was then, showed a passion for drawing and painting; in his father’s hardware shop in Melbourne he would sit at the counter drawing for hours at a time, much to the customers’ amusement. In his early teens, he made copies of his favourite artists’ work; da Vinci , Rembrandt, Van Eyck; these were the people that provided endless fascination for any young artist. It was about this time that Leigh sold his first painting, a nude study, for the sum of $400 dollars, which seemed like a fortune in 1963.

After four years of study at Caulfield where he was awarded the annual prize three years running, he left with a Diploma in Fine Art/ Painting. Several years of working in commercial photography followed, travelling to Europe and South East Asia on various assignments. Exhibitions of photography and large abstract paintings at Consortium Galleries in Adelaide attracted favourable reviews.

In 1983 Leigh moved to Perth to help set up a production company for the construction and painting of theatre sets. The years that followed saw him painting 20 meter wide cloths for the Australian Ballet, full sets for the West Australian Ballet and Opera, and the Australian Opera, and in addition, pursuing a career as an artist, exhibiting at Perth Galleries.

Over the last few years the success of his landscape and seascape paintings has allowed him do devote his full time to the pursuit of excellence that began many years ago with a young boy fascinated by the astonishing technical skill shown by the Masters.


Exhibitions

1947 Born Melbourne, Victoria

1967 Graduated with Diploma of Fine Art in Painting,Caulfield Institute of Technology.

1978 Consortium Galleries, Adelaide, solo exhibition of photography.

1979 Consortium Galleries, Adelaide, group show of paintings.

1980 Consortium Galleries, Adelaide, group show of paintings

1993 Perth Galleries, solo exhibition of paintings

1994 Perth Galleries, solo exhibition of paintings

1995 Perth Galleries, solo exhibition of paintings

1995 Winner, Wanneroo Art Prize

1996 Perth Galleries, group show of paintings

1998 Aspects of Fremantle, Moores Building,Fremantle.

2000 WA Print Award exhibition, Moores Building, Fremantle.

2001 Centenary of Federation Kings Park Calendar

2002 Melbourne on Hay Gallery, Perth

2007 Linton and Kay, Perth

2008 Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney’

2009 Linton and Kay, Perth

2009 Trevor Victor Harvey Gallery, Sydney


Prizes
Winner, Wanneroo Art Prize 1995

Collections
Represented in private and corporate collections in Western Australia, New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Singapore, Hong Kong and United Kingdom.