Leanne Pierce, Andy Owen-Smith

Since successfully completing her first degree in fine art at Northumbria University, Leanne has been commissioned to paint many faces, some of which appear regularly in the public arena.

She gained a place in the semi-finals of the ITV show ‘A Brush With Fame’ in which she painted a whole host of celebrities including Tanni Grey-Thompson and Paul Nicholas. She was also asked to capture on canvas the faces of Cheryl Tweedy and Ashley Cole for a wedding gift.

More recently she appeared as a contestant on Sky Art Portrait Artist of the Year, where she painted Robert Bathurst. Leanne has exhibited her artwork throughout the country in solo exhibitions at universities, galleries, hospitals and public spaces.

She is currently exploring light and shadow in her portraiture to evoke a dynamic mood and image. Leanne accepts commissions, more of her work can been seen on her website and social media.

Andy Owen-Smith -
I Studied painting and sculpture at the then Cheltenham School of Art & Design leaving in 1979 with a Degree in Fine Art & Art History.
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After several years making a living as an artist with some ‘almost’ commissions and very ‘nearly’ successful art competition entries he decided that designing fibre glass woman’s legs for a jean retailer and making a robot out of a washing machine for an exhibition stand at Olympia was not why he had studied Art.
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He made the decision to build a new career to support a new family and went back to college where he completed a Degree in Management Studies and then a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). He then spent the next 20 years working for a high street bank.
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However, art remained a huge part of his life and in the last ten years the need to express himself artistically became more important. He established a studio above his wife’s pottery and as well as his own work he opened it one night a week to teach drawing and painting.
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After taking early retirement from the bank four year ago, he now paints full-time and in the past 2 years he has had successful solo shows and completed several commissions.