Bio
Les Graham Bio
Les was born in Kempsey NSW studied in Lismore and has been a professional artist for some 45 years He began his career painting landscapes in the Macleay river valley in the late 50’s he moved to Sydney with his wife and baby daughter to try to explore the possibilities of a future that involved painting after some early success he met fellow artist Doug Sealy and together they spent several years camping out and painting intensively mainly in the Turon, Capertee and Macleay river valleys The value of this union is evident in the level of quality both artists achieved Les’ paintings are found in collections of the Royal family, film stars, politicians, foreign embassies, boardrooms and galleries In 1979 he donated a large collection of his work to the townspeople of Kempsey which now hangs in perpetuity in the Civic Centre Les has won many awards published two books contributed art work to several others and written many articles on art and has been made a Fellow of the Australian Institute of History and Arts Les was invited to exhibit with Kevin Hill’s Top Ten Australian Artists group 1994 and remained with them until he retired in May 2011 He achieved a “Living Legend Award” He was featured in five Limited Edition publications with the Top Ten group during that period and has been published in several editions of Australian Artist and Palette magazines Les has his own gallery on the Crescent Head Road Kempsey where he is known as the “Macleay Valley” artist He has the unique ability to capture the light and character of the subjects he chooses with the skill that comes only from years of study and practice He paints mainly landscapes but is also well known for his still-life’s and nude paintings He also paints in watercolours and pastels and has created several statues “My philosophy on Art is quite simple Long ago I put aside all the theories, debates and experimenting and just tried to do two things; namely, to paint only what I like and to do the best I can Few people are as fortunate as I am, to know their purpose in life, and fewer still who can enjoy every moment of it.