Introduction

Leigh was born and raised in Zimbabwe and her fondest childhood memories are of weekends and holidays spent with her grandparents who lived on farmland surrounded by the beauty of the African bush. She particularly enjoyed drives to the Zambezi Valley to game-watch and would scour the bush for wildlife, delighted to catch sight of elephant, giraffe, zebra, antelope, and very rarely, the ultimate sighting, a leopard or lion. Sometimes she would be taken on fishing trips to Lake Kariba and would enjoy watching elephant and hippo near the water's edge from the boat. Leigh now resides on Epsom Downs surrounded by a very different kind of landscape and enjoys seeing racehorses passing by her home every morning and training on the Downs. She also loves Highland Cattle which have grazed on nearby Headley Heath for over a decade. Leigh's love of animals inspires her to capture something of the character and beauty of all these creatures in her paintings.

Leigh Banks