Biography of Don Li-Leger

Born and raised in British Columbia, Don Li-Leger has painted since childhood, focusing initially on the birds and animals of his native province. Li-Leger's formal training includes studies at the Vancouver School of Art, Simon Fraser University and the Banff Centre School of Fine Art. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout North America, including the prestigious Leigh-Yawkey Woodson traveling exhibit, and is represented in many private collections. Li-Leger works from the Crescent Beach, British Columbia studio/home he shares with his wife, Cora, also an artist, and their two young children. Li-Leger's original works may be seen at the Petley-Jones Gallery in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Don Li-Leger's paintings reveal the artist’s intimate knowledge and deep sensitivity to the often hidden realms of nature. Born and raised in British Columbia, he has painted since childhood, focusing initially on birds and animals of his native province. In later years, extensive field trips to the Orient and to wildlife sanctuaries throughout North America extended his vision - and the scope of his subject matter.Recently, his work has taken a new departure, with figurative etchings and more improvisational mono-prints and paintings.

Li-Leger’s formal training includes studies at the Vancouver School of Art and the Banff Centre School of Fine Art, and studies in plant ecology at Simon Fraser University. His work has been featured in exhibitions throughout North America, and is represented in many private collections. Li-Leger works from the CrescentHeights studio/home, which he shares with his wife, Cora, who is also an artist. Don Li-Leger has experienced a rich and varied life. He travelled around the world in 1971 before studying plant ecology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. He then studied painting with Terry Frost at the Banff Centre School of Fine Art in 1975 and illustration with Frank Beebe, natural history artist with the B.C. Provincial Museum. In 1977, Don studied print-making at Okanagan College in Kelowna, B.C. where he received a Canadian Nature Artist Scholarship Award. While Don lived here, his paintings of birds and other nature themed pieces became very sought after by collectors.

The paintings in this series grew out of my intensive involvement with monoprints, where I improvised and combined various imagery with broad areas of rolled-on saturated colour. Here, I have returned to painting, in my desire to integrate the spontaneity and liveliness of Oriental brushwork that has long inspired and influenced me. Using Chinese as well as Western bristle brushes, I apply acrylic paint and gels on canvas, often layered transparent colour or rice paper collage to achieve desired effects. As with much of my work, nature remains an underlying theme. In some paintings the calligraphy is taken from ancient and Chinese poems, and reflects my interest and studies in Asian painting, travels and philosophy.