Leon Martindale

Illness and Epiphany : an Awakening Spirit

After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, Leon Martindale first began to paint at the age of 58 after a massive accidental overdose of the medication to control his illness produced in him a series of psychic episodes, which have persisted to this day. Leon began to present paintings of a powerful and rich visionary world peopled with ‘spirits’, that he has described as “images in the paper”. Rendered in watercolour and formed from the loose blobs and stains of this highly mobile medium, Leon creates intense, highly charged and exotic imagery that speak to him as spirits from another world.

His 2009 one man exhibition 'Illness and Epiphany' was curated by David Parker, Senior Lecturer in Painting at the Northampton University’s School of The Arts. David’s article about Leon Martindale and the artwork on display in that exhibition appeared in a feature article in Raw Vision. His work will again be exhibited in a Madge Gill retrospective in 2013, to be included in a gallery section of mediumistic art that will accompany the show.