A Woman Inspired by Art and Buddhism
We met artist Lesley Marilyn Randall at the Global Hopes exhibition in Tenby recently and found that she hadn’t long been living in the town.
“I grew up in Battersea, South London,” she explained, “and always liked art. With encouragement from my secondary school art teacher, I continued with my art practice when I left school.
“I think of myself as an ‘eternal student’ as I just love the learning process and have attended many courses over the years – and still do!”
Lesley went to Oxford Polytechnic, now Oxford-Brookes University, as a mature student.
“I left with a degree in visual studies/art history – building on my knowledge of artists and broadening my technical abilities to areas that I hadn’t experienced before like printmaking. I later did a postgraduate course in printmaking at Wimbledon School of Art and then progressed to working as a community artist and had a short-term contract back in Oxford as a printmaking technician.”
Working in the library for a number of years, gave Lesley unlimited access to books, resources and opportunities to support her in furthering her education. She especially enjoys working in the frontline with the community.
“In 1980 I was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism which has had a profound effect on my life. It is a transformative practice for me and others in working together for peace and happiness for all.”
Lesley retired to Tenby five years ago and has a studio space in the flat she shares with her partner.
What inspires her? “Surfaces, textures and colour. I take a lot of photographs and enjoy getting up close to things with my macro lens. I print off images on the computer and use templates to select certain sections to work into a collage.”
Which artists has she admired or been influenced by? “I particularly like the work of Anselm Kiefer, Peter Blake, Tom Phillips, Magritte and the painterly qualities and colour of Pierre Bonnard, but there really are too many to mention.”
Lockdown gave Lesley the opportunity to make 18 collages on 6×6 box canvases. She explains: “A few of these are to do with an ongoing project, A Buddhist’s A-Z, of which some were exhibited in Tenby Shares – an exhibition at Tenby Museum and Art Gallery in 2022.”
Lesley has been involved in many exhibitions over the years including the recent Global Hopes where we met; she was delighted to exhibit work concerned with acknowledging our relationship with the environment, which is empowering for change and positive outcomes.
“Our inner transformation – changing the tenets in our heart – is key to transforming conflict and respect for the dignity of life for all,” she says.
What plans does she have for the future? “I am exploring new opportunities to show my work. I don’t drive, so am a bit restricted in taking work out and about. I have started to use small canvases for collages to do with Tenby and surrounds, which I hope to be able to sell in the locality. All collages are cut and pasted by hand and are one-off pieces using my own images.”
Look out for Lesley’s work, particularly in the Tenby area. We think you will be seeing a lot more of her.
lesley_marilyn_randall@hotmail.com / 0775 297 8520 – text or WhatsApp
