Leigh Hewson-Bower

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 metre 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

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.