BIOGRAPHY
Lesley Thiel is a self taught contemporary realist artist known for her highly detailed figurative paintings. Even as a child she was an observer of the world around her, often seeing artistic compositions in the most mundane settings. Her style and choice of subject rely heavily on her love of the beauty she sees as inherent in all living things, and in a desire to share what she sees with the world. It is this motivation that pushed her to draw and paint from childhood, and which is a constant in her artistic journey. Her work has been influenced by such old masters as Caravaggio, Vigee LeBrun, and the Pre-Raphaelites.
Lesley tries to create work that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but also carries deeper meanings and messages. Working in oils, either on canvas or on wood panel, her paintings begin with a detailed drawing, which is followed by underpainting, and then finished with the meticulous details for which she is known. Each work takes many hours to complete.
Lesley was born in England, but has spent much of her life in Europe and the United States. She studied sciences at London University, obtaining a PhD and working in medical research for several years before deciding to pursue her first love of art. Her work has been included in numerous exhibitions, and can be found in collections throughout the world. She lives and works near Charlotte, North Carolina.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores culture and its relationship with the earth. I see our society and its rules as akin to an old traveling circus, filled with the bizarre and whimsical, the illogical and the distorted. The ruffs, corsets, or hats in which I dress my models represent the cultural rules that we consider immutable, but which are really often a result of whims, fashions, or negotiations. I want to convey that they will become irrelevant and be replaced, just as the accessories of the past have been discarded. The rules of the earth, on the other hand, are finely balanced and breaking them has consequences.
I see a painting as a conversation in which the opening sentences are created by the artist. The goal of my efforts is to try and create work that suspends disbelief to the point that it slips effortlessly into communication. Beauty has a role to play in that exchange. Not the superficial appearance that we tend to associate with the word, but the accidental beauty of the turn of a head, a fleeting emotion playing across a face, or the grace of an unaffected gesture. Beauty has the capacity to open our souls and make us sharply aware of everything around us. It can transport us and yet keep us truly in the moment, longing to hold onto that emotional rush we feel. It allows us to create a zone of comfort in which we can discuss ideas and feelings, and how our world will change. It is my hope that it takes others on a journey in which they create their own conversation with my work.
CV
Awards and Publications
Winner of an ARC Staff Award in the ARC Salon 2018
Certificate of Excellence by the Portrait Society of America in 2015
PoetsArtists Magazine issue 95. ’Painting The Figure Now’ 2018
PoetsArtists Magazine 10th Anniversary issue 2018
PoetsArtists Magazine issue 91. The art and poetry of ‘Visions Of Venus’ 2018
The Guide Artists Issue 11 pages 47 – 59. Cover story with interview. 2018
“Moonchild’ selected as one of ’50 Great Figurative Artworks 2017′ by PoetsArtists Magazine in their issue 89, curated by Steven DaLuz. 2018
Select Exhibitions
13th International ARC Salon Exhibition
Salmagundi Club, New York City; Sotheby’s, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern European Art, Barcelona
21 September, 2018 – 31 March, 2019
BIG ART, small canvas, RJD Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
November 2018 – January 2019
‘Painting T\the Figure Now’
Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art
Wausau, WI
7 July – 28 September, 2018
‘Visions of Venus/Venus Visions’
Zhou B Art Center
Chicago
20 April – 8 June, 2018
Women Painting Group Exhibition
Dacia Gallery
New York City
20 February – 3 March, 2018
Belgravia Gallery
Christmas Exhibition
Albemarle Street, Mayfair
London
December 2014 – January 2015
American International Fine Art Fair
Palm Beach County Convention Center
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
4 February – 9 February, 2014
Belgravia Gallery
Two woman show with Susan Swartz
Albemarle Street, Mayfair
London
7 October – 28 October, 2013
LAPADA
Berkeley Square
Mayfair
London
25 September – 29 September, 2013
Art Trove
The Royal Show
Waterloo Street
Singapore
22 August- 30 September, 2012
Belgravia Gallery
Christmas Exhibition
Albemarle Street, Mayfair
London
December 2011 – January 2012
Terminal 5 Heathrow Airport
March to October 2011
Fine Art Asia
Hong Kong
3 – 6 October, 2011
Frost and Reed
King Street, St. James’s
London
16 September – 20 October, 2010
The Bronze Gallery
Sporting LIfe Exhibition
Hartley Wintney
11 September, 2008
Square 1 Gallery
Kings Road, London
25 October, 2007
Forest Gallery
“Elegance” exhibition
Guildford, Surrey
28 September, 2007
Society of Equestrian Artists Autumn Exhibition
Palace House, Newmarket
28 Sept.ember – 16 Oct.ober, 2006
Society of Equestrian Artists Summer Exhibition
Mall Galleries, London
17 July – 22 July, 2006
Art Culture
Two woman exhibition together with Penny Warden, figurative artist.
Art Culture, Marlow
19 May – 21 May, 2006
Art Culture
One woman show of 26 originals.
Art Culture, Marlow
3 March – 5 March, 2006
