August Argenta Art Walk: Leigh Hudson

Life is complicated and has lots of twists and turns, bumps and smooth places, and as

you travel through it, you can’t help but notice the complexity of layers and details. Such

is my artwork. I work intuitively, often using things like branches and discarded objects

to make my own paintbrushes and mark-making tools and then I approach the canvas

much like I show up in life: Trusting that God will take me on a journey that helps me

see the beauty and intricacies of each moment, appreciating each lovely shade or tone

of color, each imperfect line, shape, and form and always reveling in the depth of the

outcome.

Much like life, my paintings are created with many layers that individually might not

make much sense but taken as a whole are beautiful and unique. I strive to create work

that is complex like life but also peaceful and emotionally moving and invites the viewer

to slow down and really “see” with new eyes.

A self-taught artist, I took my first art class when I was 6 years old and have been

creating in some form ever since. Creating artwork has become my personal therapy as

I spend much of my days as a counselor listening to the stories of amazing women and

men as they share about their pain and suffering and heal from lifetimes of trauma and

neglect and then somehow God allows me to take my experience of my own past and

the collective suffering of my clients and as I approach the canvas, something magical

and complex happens-something that I hope brings a small bit of beauty to a world

longing to be restored and transformed and will be ONE DAY. 

-Leigh Hudson