Red Smudge

Wayne Leidenfrost is a visual artist based in North Vancouver, BC whose impressionistic style brings the canvas alive with colour and movement. Large open fields abundant with a variety of flowers capture the essence of bright sunny days, while tranquil pond scenes depicting waterlilies and softly moving water are reminiscent of Monet. He began to paint at age 12 and, exhilarated, to this day continues to hone his skill. He has always been thankful for the presence of creativity in his life, and, although he has never fully understood it, he has always found it fascinating and mysterious. 

He is an artist full of energy and passion. A photojournalist by trade, he is used to working in a rectangular black and white format. His landscapes allow him a reprieve from the real world, into a space of bright, vibrant colour and movement. Rarely painting in the daylight, Wayne is a night owl, painting while the world is sleeping, sometimes all the way into the early mornings, in a windowless studio room. His studio is a barrier from the distractions of the outside world, so Wayne is left alone to paint with just his thoughts as company. The precision he exercises while painting is a testament to his control of the medium; at times, paintings will look nearly finished yet Wayne will continue to add a single stroke here and there until he is satisfied. In his decades long career, he has participated in multiple solo and group exhibitions and his works have found their way in collections throughout North America. 

“Everybody looks at my work and says “it is so peaceful,” but it is the subject, the garden, that is peaceful. The brushstrokes aren’t peaceful – on a bad day, I can paint with such huge, angry strokes that I knock the brush out of my hand.”