Bio

I was born in Victoria in 1954 and raised in Vancouver Point Grey. My art career started at age fifteen when I discovered the world of fibre arts; I discovered acrylic painting in 1988.

I have enjoyed a career as a teacher and a biologist and now spend my retirement painting. I owned and operated the Leighdon Studio Gallery on West 3rd Avenue in Vancouver. The commercial business closed in 2010 and is now run as a home-based business which publishes the books “Artists of British Columbia”.

Artist’s Statement:

I strive to capture the world around me through colour and through texture.

I work mostly with palette knives in my colourful “City Series”. For these works I try to capture the brilliant jewel-like colours of the city life and the excitement that surrounds us.

In my softer-toned "Beach Series" I try to capture a gentle, misty, and peaceful feeling of the tidal areas of our west coast beaches. For these paintings I use the texture and movement of the paints themselves.

“Every day for me is a great day to be alive and to be creative.”

SCIENCE / TEACHING EDUCATION

1988 M.Sc. University of British Columbia
1980 P.D.P. Teaching Certification, Simon Fraser University
1976 B.Sc. University of Victoria

ART / WRITING COURSES

2019 Writing Circle, Gleneagles Rec Centre, West Vancouver
2017 Art program, Continuing Studies, Emily Carr University
2014 Creative Writing, Coal Harbour Rec Centre, Vancouver
2008 – 2010 Owned and operated Leighdon Studio Gallery, Vancouver
Courses designed/taught at gallery – Art Intro, Extreme Abstracts & Creative Journal
2013 Novel Writing, UBC
2007 Canadian Picture Framers School
2002 Sheffield School of Interior Design, Ontario
2001 Vancouver Academy of Art
• Art and Writing courses, Capilano College, North Vancouver
1996 Novel writing, Vancouver City College
1988 Art, Sheridan College, Brampton, Ontario

PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT

1989 - 2005 Lab Instructor, Capilano College
Biology Department – Biology, Ecology, Microbiology, Invertebrate Zoology, Environmental Biology
1980 - 1990 High School Teacher – SD#60 (Fort St. John), #36 (Surrey), and Mississauga, Ontario
1974 - 1978 Biologist Fish & Wildlife Branches - Nanaimo, Smithers, and Vernon
Water Investigations Branch Vernon

ART EXHIBITIONS

SOLO
2011- 2022 Exhibit and sales, office of Coast Reporting Services, 808 Nelson, Vancouver
2005 Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver
2003 Biogeoclimatic Zones of B.C., Maple Ridge Art Gallery
• Textures in Acrylic, West Vancouver Memorial Library
1996 Le Jardin, Vancouver
• Capilano College Library Gallery, North Vancouver
• Acrylics and Multimedia, Silk Purse Gallery, West Vancouver

GROUP
2015 Azo Gold, Art Azo Group, Gibsons Public Art Gallery, Gibsons
2015 Sechelt Library, Sechelt
2013 Carte Blanche, Sechelt
2013 Texture – Fibre & Paint, Doris Crowston Gallery, Sechelt
2012 Sans Brush, exhibition North Vancouver
2012 Sechelt Festival of the Arts, Sechelt, BC - Honourable Mention award
2012 representation - Agora Gallery, New York, USA
2011 Anonymous Show, North Vancouver
2011 Sechelt Festival of the Arts, Sechelt
2010 Momentum: 25 artists/ From Past to Present, Leighdon Studio Gallery, Vancouver
2009 Nudes for Breast Cancer Awareness, Leighdon Studio Gallery, Vancouver
2008 Beyond Borders: An Exhibition of Fine Art from Canada, Agora Gallery, NY, USA
2005 Anonymous Show, North Vancouver Arts Council
2003 The Final Curtain, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver
2002 FANS exhibition, North Vancouver Arts Council
2001 The University Women’s Club of Vancouver
2001 Silent Auction, Arts Club Theatre Company, Vancouver
• Artists Across the Inlet, ZheeClay Arts Gallery, Vancouver
1996 The Love of Art, Jacqueline Frances Gallery, North Vancouver
• Foghorn Boutique, West Vancouver
1993 Discovery ‘93, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver

VOLUNTEER WORK

1976-1978 Guatemala, Central America

PUBLICATIONS

Novel:
2026 MacPherson’s Dolor ISBN 978-1-03-836445-6 (paperback)
978-1-03-836446-3 (hardcover)
978-1-03-836447-0 (eBook)

Art Related:
2001 Room of One’s Own Magazine (23:2) (ISBN 0316-1609)
2008 ArtisSpectrum Magazine Volume 19
2009 Nudes for Breast Cancer Awareness Catalogue (ISNB 978-0-9783296-1-7)
2010 Momentum Catalogue, Coast Art Trust (ISBN 978-0-9783296-3-1)
2010 Artists of British Columbia Volume 1 (ISBN 978-0-9783296-4-8) (edited/publ. + pages 70-71)
2010 Colour & Texture (ISBN 978-0-9783296-6-2)
2011 Artists of British Columbia Volume 2 (ISBN 978-0-9783296-7-9) (edited/publ.)
2012 Artists of British Columbia Volume 3 (ISBN 978-0-9783296-8-6) (edited/publ.)
2014 Artists of British Columbia volume 4 (ISBN 978-0-9919876-0-3) (edited/publ.)
2014 J. Richardson – The First Sixty Years (ISBN 978-0-9783296-9-3 (biography)
2019 Left & Right (ISBN 978-0-9919876-6-5)
2020 What is Snartism?! (ISBN 978-0-9919876-5-8)
2025 Artists of British Columbia Volume 5 (ISBN 978-0-9919876-8-9)

Scientific Journals:
1986 Canadian Journal of Zoology 65
1988 Proc. Helminthological Soc. Wash. 55
1988 Canadian Journal of Zoology 66
1990 Canadian Journal of Zoology 68

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, North Vancouver
St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation, Vancouver
VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation, Vancouver
Vernon Jubilee Hospital, Vernon