Art. Life. Leigh.

For a couples first anniversary I was commissioned to do a painting that symbolized their love. Years later, after they had breakfast nook completed in their farm house I was asked to paint their kids when toddlers. Their special talents, personalities, birth date and quotes from Mamma all snuck inside a 12" x 12" panel. I smiled the entire time I did them.

This building which used to be both an orphanage and animal shelter got a 'redo'. A contest was held for submissions to create a design which would capture the feeling of warmth and hope. Katie Nork's design won and I was the painter. Truly a group effort. A lot of things need to line up for this sort of thing to come to fruition, the indian summer didn't hurt matters. :

Here are some snaps from Friday nights exhibit and reception at The Rusty Flack Gallery.  Viewers came from all over and I was touched at the time people  took to really look at the work.

Scranton had so much great energy Friday night.  Art with musicians at all the galleries and the Italian Festival.... people connecting through the arts.  It's magical.  

I have openings the first and second Friday in September . I hope you will come because YOU are invited!First Friday in Scranton, PA at Artworks Gallery with Sharon Cosgrove.  Second Friday - Kingston, PA  at Wyoming Seminary's new Rusty Flack Art Gallery.

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The Rusty Flack Art Gallery at Wyoming Seminary is pleased to announce that area artist and muralist Leigh Pawling will be featured in the Gallery's inaugural professional exhibit, running September 1-30. The solo exhibit, titled "Layers of Light: An Exhibit by Leigh Pawling,” will be on display in the Gallery, located in Sem's Kirby Center for Creative Arts, 260 North Sprague Avenue, Kingston. The public is invited to meet the artist and view her exhibit during a reception on Friday, Sept. 9 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. The exhibit also will be open to the public on September 3, 10, 17 and 24 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment. Pawling, of Dallas, has been a painter, muralist and teacher for nearly 25 years and her exuberant, large-scale murals in Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Tunkhannock, Pittston and other areas are well-known. She also has exhibited widely in area galleries in both solo and group shows. A Pennsylvania Rostered Artist, she is a painting instructor for the award-winning prestigious Arts Alive program at Marywood University, held every year in July. This exhibit will feature 15-20 vibrantly-colored acrylic and mixed media works of various sizes, created since 2008. One highlight of the show will be Pawling's Life Series, a collection of four large works that shows the evolution of a human being from a single entity in childhood, to "couple hood” and parenthood, and finally at the end of life, alone once again. Other works will depict the human figure, common everyday objects and area landscapes.The opportunity to feature work of this high caliber as the Flack Gallery's first professional exhibit is very exciting, says Dan Krueger, Flack Gallery director and director of Sem's Visual Arts program."It is so important for our school to exhibit local professional artists on campus, and very beneficial for our students to see this level of work in person,” he said. "Colleen Ayers, Sem visual arts teacher, and I are both excited about this upcoming exhibition. To offer a show of this quality is a natural extension of our long-standing arts program, which has already seen a number of Sem graduates going on to successful careers in a variety of arts-related fields.” For more information, or to make an appointment to view the exhibit, contact Sem Director of Alumni Programs Julie McCarthy Strzeletz at jstrzeletz@wyomingseminary.org.

Spending time in the woods renews and grounds me. Here is a commission I recently did of three things I love trees, birds and stone walls.