From darkness to light
Natalia Leigh’s “seasons” series includes: ‘Spring with Columbine Flowers,’ ‘Summer with Sunflowers,’ ‘Autumn with Chrysanthemums,’ and ‘Winter with Snowdrops.’
Natalia Leigh’s ‘Look for the Rainbow’ features dahlias representing the seven colors of the rainbow. She also included butterflies, a bee, a ladybug and dragonflies, to convey messages of hope and optimism.
A brilliant cardinal perches on a pair of binoculars in ‘Home, sweet home,’ Natalia Leigh’s painting about the isolation people felt and the ways they coped during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Natalia Leigh’s ‘If the Shoe Fits,’ is part of the Art in the Hall display at Morganton’s City Hall. She describes the work as ‘a playful shot of something bright on a gray day.’
Natalia Leigh’s paintings will be on display at Morganton’s City Hall through the end of March.
Natalia Leigh uses the natural world for inspiration in her works.
A bright rainbow and a golden-eyed cat make an optimistic work of art. Natalia Leigh’s works will be on display in Morganton until the end of March.
When she was a little girl growing up in Europe, Natalia Leigh had an eye for the beauty of nature and a heart for those she saw suffering.
The Kannapolis resident has melded both beauty and empathy into her life, in her dual careers as painter and nurse.
A striking exhibit of Leigh’s artwork currently graces the lower and upper lobbies of Morganton’s City Hall. Her work will be on display through the end of March as part of the city’s “Art In the Hall” program.
The public is invited to stroll through City Hall and enjoy the exhibit at no charge.
Leigh’s lower lobby paintings are primarily brightly colored works, painted on inky-black canvases. The art represents a contrast of struggle and hope. Some pieces depict vibrant flowers in glass vases, their reflections mirrored below.
Others show unusual combinations of planets, birds, flowers, and insects. Still others reflect Leigh’s impressions of her work as a healthcare provider during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I started the series of symbolic paintings on black canvas at the time of COVID-19,” Leigh stated. “I am a nurse and was involved in helping people every day.”
Leigh said she draws inspiration from artists who observed and depicted historical and political events or natural disasters.
“As an artist who lives at the times of world instability, I feel like I want to share my personal experiences, surviving pandemics, inflation, and wars,” she stated. “In hard times people have concerns about safety, and worry about family and friends, and having enough food.
“I found that the need of hope in any form is very important in our lives,” she said. “The purpose of my art is to produce positive feelings as the world changes.”
And while several of her artworks represent items that show the difficulty of the health crisis (one work includes an empty toilet paper roll, a symbol of shortages during the pandemic), they all share a common theme: hope.
Her distinctive personal style emanates love for nature and an optimistic attitude about life.
“(The) paintings on black canvas were created with a special direction, belonging to one theme: Look for the rainbow,” Leigh explained. “It is the depiction of current events of life with symbolic subjects.
“My other paintings do not have a general theme or idea. They are whatever I see in front of my eyes,” she added.
The other works on display in Morganton are glorious studies of nature, including snowy landscapes, assorted wildlife, rainbows, and everyday scenes, brought to life in brilliant color.
Leigh said the contrast in her manner of painting is deliberate.
“The difference between the two styles of paintings is my intention to switch my attention sometimes from stark reality to the warmth and softness of nature, animals, and birds,” she said.
As Leigh explained, “Black canvas is like a beginning in life. Plant a seed in the soil where it is dark and black.
“When a seed is sown into the soil where it is dark and void of color, it will grow out, turning into colors with sunshine,” she said. “When I start painting on black canvas, the colors on canvas begin to emerge and grow into the picture of whatever is in my heart.”
Leigh continues her career as a nurse and paints in her Kannapolis studio.
Art in the Hall offers a public space for people and groups to display their artwork and exhibits. Exhibits are routinely shown on both floors of the lobby. Videos of the show are currently on display on Channel 2 on CoMPAS Cable at 8 a.m., 11 a.m., and 8 p.m. daily.
Sandra Wilkerson Queen is the arts & entertainment editor. She may be reached at 828-445-8595, ext. 2002, or sandra@thepaper.media.
