Bio & Bibliography

ME: I was born in Bristol, UK & moved to London when I was six. My experience as an artist started in early adolescence when I became a pseudo hippy. I was influenced by psychedelic bands like Pink Floyd as well as the French existentialist writers and anything Avant-Garde in the London art galleries. I joined an evening nude life-drawing class when I was 16 & spent most of my time drawing. I applied to Goldsmiths' College of Art, London, where I had an amazing four years, with other young artists, learning to paint as well as meeting established artists. Then, I won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, where I met international artists like Motherwell & Matta! My tutor was the great British artist Ken Kiff. After graduating from a 3 year MFA Painting course I lived & worked in London exhibiting extensively.

Bartley Drey Gallery, Chelsea, London 1998

In 1996 I travelled to Urumqi, Xinjiang, China, for three months to teach watercolour painting at Xinjiang Art College. I was sent on a special trip with my students to Chinghe in the Altai Mountains, an area closed to tourists at that time. In 2003, my American husband’s work moved us to Ormond Beach, Florida, quite a SHOCK! It wasn’t city life, but I did experience the beauty of the tropics. We re-located in 2012 to the Eastern Shore, Maryland, in spitting distance of DC, Philly and NYC. I work in my studio by the Choptank River.

MY ART: I am fascinated by the poetic, solitary beauty of the world around us. Water, derelict huts, floating osprey. My style is formalized, I love stripes. I work with traditional media to focus on contemporary issues like the effect that urban development can have on our landscape and how the “ordinary” prevails. Important influences are Hopper & Hockney.

SHORT BIOGRAPHY

2014 - Publicity - Main St Gallery, Artist Coop, Cambridge, MD
2012-14 Coordinating Artist - Artist Loft Studios, Cambridge, MD
2012 Moved to Maryland
2009 Tournament Artist - LSO Golf Florida
2008 Coordinating Artist - White Studios, Daytona Beach, FL
2005 Visiting Artist - Ormond Beach Art Museum, Ormond, FL
2003 Moved to Florida
1999-03 Production & Reviews - Galleries Magazine, London
1999 Tournament Artist - Ladies European Golf Tour, London
1998-99 Artist-in-Residence - Kensington & Chelsea College London
1996 Visiting Artist - Xinjiang Arts Institute, Urumqi, China
1995-6 Film Festival Coordinator - Royal College of Art, London

EDUCATION
1977-80 Royal College of Art London (MFA)
1972-76 Goldsmiths College of Art London (BFA)
1966-72 Wallington Grammar School for Girls, Surrey, England

PUBLIC & CELEBRITY COLLECTIONS

Cambridge Medical Center, Maryland
  Hoopers Island Oyster Co. Cambridge, Maryland
  Blackwater Bakery, Cambridge. Maryland
  Xinjiang Art College Urumqi, China
    Gunnersbury Park Museum, London
    Camden Council, London
    Landmark Business Centre at the Royal Mint, London
    Silver Vaults, London
    Royal College of Art, London
    Laura Davies (CBE), professional golfer, UK
    Tim Heidecker, entertainer, Los Angeles
    Bo Van Pelt, professional golfer, Oklahoma
    Prestwick Golf Club, Ormond Beach, Florida
    ICI Homes, Daytona Beach, Florida
    Apremont Golf Club, Paris
    Brocket Hall Golf Club, UK

PUBLICATIONS

2019 SHORE Monthly Jeannette Spohn
"The Art of Lesley Giles" April issue
2016   Fine ART Connoisseur magazine Joseph Ruzicka
"Around the Water's Edge" May/June issue
2015   Love Sayings Bradford G. Wheler
(pub: Book Collaborative)
2013   Golf Sayings  Bradford G. Wheler
(pub: Book Collaborative)
2011 Isramworld Annual Orient Travel Brochure
Front Cover New York
2009   The Village Green Daytona Beach Florida
Front Cover June
2002 Artist & Illustrators Magazine London
       "Travelling for Inspiration"
1993   Watercolour Masterclass Lawrence Wood
      (pub: Harper-Collins)
            Guardian Magazine London "Art for Sale"
            British Contemporary Art Vanessa Finn
Exhibition catalogue. (pub: Gagliardi Ltd)
1990   The Subjective City London Oliver Bevan
  Exhibition catalogue
1990   The Challenge of Landscape Ian Simpson
      (pub:Harper-Collins)

REVIEWS

2013 Attraction Magazine Easton Maryland.
  "Artist Loft Studios"
Dorchester Star Cambridge Maryland.
"Artist Loft Studios" - May issue
2010 Daytona Beach News-Journal Florida.
   "Women Dream Up Art" Rick de Yampart - Nov
Orlando Magazine Florida.
"Paint the Town" - March issue
2009   Atlantic Center for the Arts New Smyrna Beach, FL
"Bold Minimalist Landscapes" Sarah Higgins, Curator
2008   The Compass St Augustine Florida.
  "Lesley Giles at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery"
  Carol Elliott - Sep issue
  Daytona Beach News-Journal Florida
   "Realtors Draw on Artists" Audrey Parente
2006 StandardartNews Bulgaria
  "Lesley Giles - Contemporary Artist" Todor Tragmar
2005 Atlantic Center for the Arts New Smyrna Beach, FL
  "Florida Icons:US1"  Jeanne Dowis, Curator
1992   Ealing & Acton Gazette London
  "Art Means Business" Wendy Richmond
1991   Sunday Times London
"Confusing Signs of Our Times" Andrew Lambirth
1981 Kensington News & Post London
   "Local Artists Go Underground" Jan issue

PS. We LOST all our worldly goods during our Trans Atlantic move! That included all my paintings (that were unsold) as well as portfolios of hundreds of works on paper. It felt like a bereavement; I had to literally rebuild my career as an artist. I felt like I was in the desert for many years with no mature body of work to exhibit. My gallery in London closed when the owner retired so I had to literally start from scratch, including having to buy all new paints and brushes.

A decade later, we heard from an art dealer in Miami that our "stuff" had somehow re-emerged after being "LOST" via New York! Following a series of nasty meetings, a dozen boxes of our personal belongings were returned to us along with my paintings & portfolios, many of which had been damaged in Miami during Hurricane Wilma.