Wendy Leach

Wendy Leach's paintings are large, confident and visually powerful works.

Wendy is a graduate of both Elam School of Fine Arts, and Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design. She holds a Master of Fine Arts, 1st class Honours. She is also a qualified high school teacher. Over her career she has had 22 solo exhibitions and has exhibited in around forty group and collaborative shows. She had a solo show in Amman, Jordan in 2004, 'Landscapes of Jordan'.

She has worked with oil paint, acrylic paint and photographic techniques. She has always enjoyed exploring the possibilities within techniques and materials. In 2000, Wendy was featured in Master Artists of the World in 'International Artist' magazine, published in USA, in an eight-page feature article.

In 2006 Wendy commenced study for a Master of Fine Arts degree. Her graduation exhibition was held in January 2008, and she was awarded Master of Fine Arts with First Class Honours. Since then her work shows quite deliberate stages incorporating both realism and abstraction.

From 2009 to 2015 Wendy lived in Europe, before returning to live in Mangawhai.

In February 2021 Wendy was featured in Aotearoa Artist magazine. Her 2021 exhibition was 'Full Circle' at Mangawhai Artists Gallery. Her exhibition catalogue stated "Alongside the challenges 2020 brought to the world, Wendy found beauty and hope in painting the splendid pohutukawa trees along Mangawhai’s ocean beach. She found strength in the dramatic tree forms, energy in the swirling coastal skies and inspiration in the changing light".

In February 2022 Wendy exhibited in a joint exhibition 'Finding Joy' at Mangawhai Artists Gallery.

The paintings from both 'Full Circle' and 'FindingJoy' exhibitions can be seen on Wendy's website, www.wendyleach.com.