Leigh Harder states that she was “initially inspired as a young artist to try to catch the particular blue of the changing twilight sky, what is commonly referred to as ‘the blue hour’. I worked with watercolors as a teenager for years trying to capture that hue. Much of my current work contains sky and a recurrent dalliance with blue. The allusion to light and dark is both literal and figurative as I have navigated profound loss and a disassembling and reassembling process personally.”

Her chosen medium currently is alcohol ink. This is a relatively new medium for fine artists. Colors are layered through a process of masking and painting with the ink flowing in a semi-controlled application. The resulting effect can mimic textile in its overall pattern and design. The textures of the landscape, flowers, water, clouds, the woods – all are explored. Leigh is passionate about the changing landscape as light, color and atmosphere all shift in weather and season.

Leigh Gavin Harder lives in East Middlebury, Vermont and has called it home for the past four decades. Prior to living in Vermont, she lived in Pennsylvania where she studied art at the Philadelphia College of Art and then majored in Human Creativity at Geneva College. After a thirty-year career in teaching, Leigh returned to painting seriously after retiring in 2020. Her work is currently in private collections throughout the United States and in the U.K.

The exhibit runs from April 12 until June 8 at the Jackson Gallery in the lower level of Town Hall Theater on Merchants Row in downtown Middlebury. All are invited to a reception for the artist on Friday, April 12 from 5 – 7 pm. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday noon to five, and when performances are taking place. Entrance is through the front doors of the theater.