Garden Paintings

Leslie Smith's garden paintings convey an atmosphere of intense stillness produced by layers of very fine detail, which take weeks of work to achieve. He likes to contrast the formal structure of lawns, hedges and topiary, walls and garden architecture with the informality of trees, plants, flowers and water. He achieves a rich depth of colour by using oil paints on canvas or board. As his pictures take a long time to complete, Leslie paints in the studio using his large collection of photographic reference or drawings made at the scene. In the case of commissions a research visit is made to the location to discuss the prospective painting with the client and take photographs before he can begin work.