Leonardus Aarts (Leon for short) was born in Christchurch, 1961, to Dutch parents.

Leon is married to Debra, and has four wonderful children. 

As a child Leon was impressed by the paintings of his Grandfather, Leonardus Van de Ven, a famous artist from Eindhoven, Brabant, in the Netherlands.

 At school he was privileged to have had Alan Pearson as an art teacher.  He admires Alan’s work to this day and believes he is one of N.Z’s top expressionist artists of all time.

It has been only in the last 4 years that Leon pursued his love of art with a real passion.   

His painting style and palette has changed dramatically in that time, and influences such as the works of Kandinsky, Picasso, Chagall and Brett Whiteley have opened his eyes to explore new patterns and form.

 Leon is not a great fan of ‘isms’ for categorizing his style under one banner, as there are too many influences in the world of art.  One could say that his work is ‘abstract expressionism’. 

 He has held two solo exhibitions at The Christchurch Art Centre; Gallery ‘O’ and ‘Cloisters’.   the latter the more viewed and visually satisfying.  He is developing a market for his work, taking every opportunity that arises and continually learning more about his chosen craft.