News

Elevating Series - 2010

Working in a language of color blocks, soft grids, and textural marks, my recent paintings blur the boundary between painting and frame as they explore the nature of surface and deep space, and include content suggested abstractly or represented literally.

Often a color theme is built-up on the surface by layering textual marks, and the color itself will suggest automatic or deliberate writing of numbers, words, or phrases. Within a compostiion, symbolic images or motifs are embedded in deeper space; the resulting tension creates an allegorical framework for the power of memory, and forgetting.

Color, mark- making, language, and recognizable images work to create a memory pool with emotive content for me, and reveal the act of painting as a way of recording moments in my life that flow into the making of personal myths and beliefs.

The sunnier hues of the Elevating 2010 series are a counterpoint to the rich earth-tones of the Grounding 2008 series. This series speaks more to the energies of the springtime, to the ephemeral as much as the permanent, and to the vital present moment as the spirit of timelessness.

Final Mural Training Program Exhibit in Philly

The last step to the Mural Arts Training Program is to do enlarge a section of the proposed design which was worked on during the class. Leigh's idea is based on the nine wolf rules from Clarissa Pinkola Estes book "Women Who Run with Wolves". The 'rules' suggest how to regain or maintain a sense of centerness and are as follows: eat, rest, rove in between, render loyalty, love the children, cavil in moonlight, tend to the bones, make love and howl often. The finished 5' x 5' piece depicting the sixth rule will be shown in Philly at the Mural Arts headquarters with the opening reception May 12 from 5-8. The exhibit will continue through June.

Balance Yoga and Wellness Center

Balance Yoga and Wellness center was recently renovated. As part of the renovation, Leigh was commissioned to create two pieces by owner Jen Ciarimboli. The first is painted on a glass window that can be viewed on either side. The image depicts a figure in tree pose - a grounding pose where the arms are extended as branches and the feet are rooted solidly to the earth.

Back mountain couple commissions personal piece

Collecting art is a personal experience. Having a piece commission specifically for you takes that experience one step further. That's the case for a Back Mountain couple that has commission Leigh to create a work that will be featured
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Leigh Accepted into Philadelphia Mural Art Program

The city of Philadelphia is know internationally for its murals. The murals have had a tremendously positive impact on the physical and mental state for the communities where the programs are implemented. Out of this program, a
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Greater W-B Chamber of Commerce Commissions Mural

Recently, on South Main Street in Wilkes Barre, the old Norton and Humphry buildings were vanadalized creating an eyesore. The aftermath of vandalizm is a negative symbol for a community. The W-B Chamber of Commerce has commissioned Leigh to paint a mural to turn a negative into a positive. The visual message will change from one of neglect to one of care.
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Where Art Blossoms

The following article is featured in the current The Independent Magazine
"Every time I walk by, I smile."
That's what artist Leigh Pawling was told by the older Wilkes-Barre gentleman as she painted the large flower mural on a building on South Main Street. He said he only smiles twice each day- when he walks by the mural and when he's "regular" in the morning. He said that at his age and after four heart attacks, it's the simple thing that makes you happy. His warmth and candor made her return a smile.