Lesley Birch’s inspiration comes from the landscape and her responses to it – be it the wild West Coast of Scotland, the remote Yorkshire Moors or the heat, earth and colours of Italy. She is interested in creating a sense of atmosphere, sometimes with a story-telling, figurative element using mark-making, texture and colour choices to convey her feelings about a place.  The building up of layers and scraping back reveal hidden marks and colours beneath the surface, creating a history to the painting. She likes to work in series, creating studies and small sketches using collage, inks and pencils before developing them into finished paintings. In the paintings, she works in various media, from acrylics and inks to oils and pigment mainly on canvas.

Lesley is looking forward to the wild remoteness around Stiwdio Maelor – a new, exciting and different landscape and, of course, meeting new people. As yet unfamiliar with Snowdonia – she expects it to be a place which will spark off special paintings. She looks forward to a reflective time to explore and develop a deeper element in her practice by incorporating a textual/symbolic mark-making element within her landscape painting.  This mark-making may well be related to the Welsh language, poetry/words/symbols/signs which inspire her during her stay. She hopes to explore the area, learn more about the Welsh culture, explore ideas and react to the people and her new surroundings.