Lesley Giles

“In early adolescence I was influenced by Psychedelia, Pink Floyd, French Existentialism AND London art galleries. I joined an evening class in nude life-drawing when I was 15.”

Lesley is a professional artist from London, England. After Goldsmiths’ College of Art she graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MFA in Painting in 1980. Since then, she has exhibited her paintings throughout the UK, Europe, China and the USA. Lesley moved to Florida in 2003 with her American husband and then to Cambridge, Md. in 2012. Lesley paints in her studio overlooking the beautiful Choptank River where she works with traditional media to focus on contemporary issues like the effect of development on our landscapes, solitude and how the “ordinary” prevails. “… The boldness of her colour is matched by a strength of design that is all too rare in contemporary art. Here is an artist with a down-to-earth sureness of vision that is immensely beguiling” by Andrew Lambirth, Art Historian, London Lesley’s style is formalized and post-cubist. Important influences are Edward Hopper and fellow alumnus David Hockney. As a grad student, she worked alongside Roberto Matta and attended seminars with American artists Robert Motherwell and James Rosenquist. Francis Bacon lived around the corner. In 1996, Lesley received a Visiting Painter invitation from the Chinese government to teach art in Urumqi, Xinjiang, on the Silk Road. “It was the experience of a lifetime”. Recent exhibitions include the Hill Center, Washington DC, Maryland Hall, Annapolis, The Biggs Museum of American Art, Dover, De. and Art Takes Times Square, NYC. Lesley’s work has been published by Harper Collins in Watercolour Masterclass by Laurence Wood & The Challenge of Landscape by Ian Simpson. She has received many reviews including FINE ART CONNOISSEUR magazine “TODAY’S MASTERS” by Joseph Ruzicka, 2016, StandardartNews Bulgaria “Lesley Giles – Contemporary Artist” by Todor Tragmar, 2006, Artists & Illustrators magazine London “Travelling for Inspiration” & the Sunday Times London “Confusing Signs of our Times” by Andrew Lambirth, 1991. Her work is collected internationally.