Leigh Rees
Leigh relocated from Brunswick Heads, NSW, to Melbourne in 2021 after studying with artists, Ben Smith, (former Julian Ashton teacher) and Dale Rhodes, (Byron School of Arts). In Melbourne, Leigh has studied Tonal Realism under artist and teacher, Greg Smith at VAS. She is a founding member of the Portrait Artists of Melbourne & Victoria. Leigh is also a member of the Hawthorn Art Society (HAS) where she maintains her love of Life Drawing and Portraiture. Leigh is the editor of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculpture newsletter and is a committee member.
In 2022, she was a finalist in the Lester National Portraiture Prize, Perth, Australia, with her portrait of 'Jinesh'. She was a finalist in the Smallacombe Self-Portrait Prize, Adelaide in 2024 and 2025.
View her portfolio at https://www.leighreesartist.art/
Education
Leigh was a Primary School teacher in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT. She retrained as a TAFE teacher and taught on Kingscliff, Murwillumbah and Ballina campuses in northern NSW.
Works by Leigh Rees
Acknowledgment of traditional owners.
We would like to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which our building stands, their leaders, past, present and emerging.