Jessica Leighton

Jessica Leighton was born in Bogota, Colombia where she spent the earlier stages of her life before moving to the Cotswolds. She was awarded a special mention for her A Level art when she came among the top five in the country in 2005. She went on to study Spanish at Bristol University, however, her art work was never far from her thoughts as she used it to help fund her education. She now dedicates her time to painting.

Jessica's inspiration comes from her extensive travels in and around South America and Europe. The paintings depict landscapes in different seasons blending together her South American roots with typically English scenery such as poppy fields and bluebell woods. Other inspiration comes from Andalucía in summer when the heat turns everything golden, exposing the detail and textures created by mixed agriculture.

Her paintings are very much about shapes, patterns and detail in the form of mixed media. She uses a variety of mixed media including newspaper cuttings, pulses, seeds, buttons, coins, mod rock, matchsticks and beads which continue the recurring theme of the countryside. She applies layers of paint which are then rubbed and scratched away and often adds a collage of paper before and during the application of paint which creates textural qualities associated with landscapes. Her main aim is to make a painting interesting to look at not only from a far but up close as well.