Cheryl Leach

I’m a visual artist whose work is rooted in the landscapes of Mid Wales, exploring themes of place, memory, and belonging. After careers in radio, teaching, and leading workshops, I returned to painting with renewed focus. Over the past eight years, I’ve developed a distinctive style using layered colour and intuitive mark-making to evoke emotional connection and a sense of quiet presence in the everyday and the place where I live.

Familiar trees, hills, and paths reappear throughout my work—often unconsciously, yet always with meaning. These recurring elements ground me, acting as anchors to a landscape that is both constant and shifting. I use bold, flat planes of gouache to create calm, meditative spaces, contrasted by spontaneous, expressive marks in acrylic ink that introduce emotion and unpredictability—echoes of my inner world in dialogue with the external.

Through colour, rhythm, and form, I explore personal landscapes—whether physical, emotional, or remembered. Each piece is an attempt to capture a moment of balance between stillness and movement, control and chaos. I hope my work invites others to reflect on their own sense of place, connection, and memory.

Growing up on a farm in Mid Wales, I’ve formed a deep, almost spiritual bond with the land—a connection that continues to shape my life and work. Though I’ve lived elsewhere, I’m always drawn back by the quiet magic and beauty of this place. My paintings are rooted in nature, where I absorb the shapes, colours, lines, and rhythms of the landscape.

My current work draws inspiration from the quiet transformation of dawn—those fleeting moments when darkness gives way to light and the world slowly reawakens. The shifting colours and subtle energy of this daily ritual stir something deep within me, reminding me of the quiet power and beauty held in familiar places.