A native of St Ives, Lesley Ninnes is a versatile artist whose career spans two decades.  With a repertoire that encompasses a range of styles, this is a person who continues to find painting an exciting, stimulating and rewarding vocation.

Interested in light, reflected light, symmetry, balance, colour and tension, her working method, whether using oil, acrylic or watercolour, is that of a building up of transparent and opaque layers.  She likes to work on several projects at once, preferably a mix of abstract and representational subjects.

Paintings evolve from ideas that have formed over time or are inspired by a particular place/weather condition, and those that start with one colour on a blank canvas.  The last is a sort of quest, reviewing, modifying and refining the painting over days or weeks until arriving at a natural conclusion.

Lesley started painting on a regular basis while living on the Island of St Helena 1984-7.  Her botanical paintings were reproduced as stamps and published in book form.  She experimented with different media while living on the Turks & Caicos Islands, BWI 1989-96, painting land and seascapes.  Returning to St Ives in 1996, she later attained an HNC in Art & Design at Cornwall College, joining Art Space Gallery co-operative in 2000.  Her paintings were selected for exhibition in the annual 21st Century Watercolour competition at Bankside Gallery, London 2008-2009 and exhibited at Bristol Affordable Art Fair, Edinburgh Art Fair and the Northern Art Show, Harrogate.

Lesley is a member of St Ives Society of Artists and St Ives Arts Club, and an associate member of Penwith Society of Arts.