Artists

Nichola Leigh, the younger daughter of artists Leonora Everard Haden and Derek Leigh, was born in Carolina, in Mpumalanga, (then the Eastern Transvaal) in 1966. She grew up in Pietermaritzburg where she qualified with a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Natal in 1988, and worked briefly at the Tatham Art Gallery before becoming a full-time artist. Her artworks, in a variety of media including ink, pastel, watercolour and oils, are inspired by nature, animals, her deep spiritual beliefs and the African landscape. She was fascinated by mountains and rocks, and trees and wide-open spaces, and her style shows a distinctive Everard influence.
Leigh’s first solo exhibition was held in 1997, and she participated in numerous group exhibitions including the Natal Arts Trust Biennale in 1998 when she was awarded the second prize. She held a joint exhibition with Diamond Bozas at the Irma Stern Museum in 2008. Her work is represented in numerous corporate collections throughout South Africa, and in private collections in South Africa, France and the Netherlands. Nichola Leigh died in 2017.