Leo du Feu

Burntisland

I'm a painter. I create colourful, energetic, often-made-outdoors artworks which celebrate and connect people to nature and to the excitement of being alive.

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I'm a Scottish painter. I live and work on the beautiful Fife coast in Scotland, across the water from Edinburgh.

I paint bold artworks, full of life and energy. My practice is inspired by my love for life and this awesome planet.

I love painting plein-air, in all sorts of mixed media (watercolour, gouache, pen, crayon, pencil, ink…), absorbed in nature, especially during my annual residencies on the Isle of May seabird island, and on days exploring by rail in my role as a ScotRail Community Rail Champion.

I love painting back in my studio, in mixed media and in acrylic, channelling all my outdoor experiences, letting them flow onto canvas or card on my studio floor.

My beautiful studio is in an old railway waiting room, on the platform at Burntisland railway station, in the town where I live.

I love colour, boldness. I’m driven by excitement, by delight at it all. I love letting paint be free, sometimes guiding it, often letting it guide me.

Lived Experience

I've been a full-time freelance professional artist ever since graduating from Edinburgh College of Art in 2006.

I have two decades of experience of life as an artist. Of making opportunities happen. Of supporting my young family. Of major mental health struggles, of breakdown and then exciting brilliant recovery and expansion.

The Energy of The Island

Born, Edinburgh, 1984

2002 – 2006 - Edinburgh College of Art, BA (Honours) Drawing & Painting degree

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KEY ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENTS

- 2025 - Fife VACMA award - to expand Scotland By Rail plein-air works in scale and style

- 2020 - Fife VACMA award - to add printmaking to artistic output.

- 2019/2020 - achieved large Railway Heritage Trust grant to renovate disused building at Burntisland railway station to become Leo’s studio and exhibition space.

- 2012 to present day - a Lead Artist at Scottish charity Art in Healthcare, running a weekly art session at the Portrait Gallery as part of Room For Art social prescribing outreach programme.

- 2013 to 2020 - Artist Adviser on Art in Healthcare's Art Selection Committee.

- 2013 - Jeremy Mills Publisher published Leo’s second book, ‘Landscapes & Birds of Scotland, an Artist's View’, coinciding with solo exhibition at RGI Kelly Gallery, Glasgow. 120 page book showcases sketches, paintings, writings from Leo’s explorations, including lots of Scotland By Rail. Forewords by Michael Palin, RSPB, John Busby artist.

- 2010 Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) Commonwealth Travel Scholarship - 6 weeks crossing Canada by rail, ferry, road. Self-published a book, ‘Sketches from Canada’, on returning to Scotland.

- Bet Low Trust Award - towards RGI Kelly Gallery exhibition.

- 2008 Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) Alexander Graham Munro Travel Award – Leo travelled to Orkney, cementing his desire to explore the islands of Scotland.

- ongoing - Leo is a ScotRail Community Rail Champion for his ongoing Scotland By Rail art-travel-nature project. As a result Leo has featured in two Channel 4 programmes - Scotland’s Scenic Railways and Britain’s Scenic Railways - as well as giving many talks, writing many blog posts, much social media output, putting on exhibitions, and more.

- artworks in hundreds of private collections around Scotland, the UK, and around the world.

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SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED WORKS

- Wemyss Bay station – two large triptych paintings for historic internationally renowned Wemyss Bay railway station

- Burntisland station, Fife - ten outdoor paintings for Burntisland railway station Biodiversity Garden

- Dalry station, North Ayrshire - six 4x4ft outdoor paintings on permanent display at award-winning railway station

- Royal Observatory Edinburgh - four 4-metre-high canvases for UK Astronomy Technology Centre

- Woolmanhill Hospital, Aberdeen - large diptych painting based on Rattray Head lighthouse and dunes

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- Leo is invited to speak about his art, his passion for nature, and his Scotland By Rail travels to a large variety of groups, festivals and all sorts of other organisations and events.

- Leo has given lots of tutoring, art workshops and demos for art groups, local authorities, schools, charities and more.

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SOLO EXHIBITIONS

May-Sept 2026 - Homecoming - Burgh Halls Gallery - Linlithgow
November 2023 - three person show - The Life Room - Edinburgh
2017 & 2018 & 2019 - solo shows - Scottish Arts Club - Edinburgh
September 2019 - three person show - The Life Room - Edinburgh
Summer 2018 - solo show (in a lighthouse!)Isle of MayThe Forth
November 2016 - solo show - Sutton Gallery - Edinburgh
Spring 2015 - solo show - Royal Over-Seas League - London
May 2014 - In the Outdoors (duo show) - Bon Papillon - Edinburgh
October 2013 - Landscapes & Birds of Scotland - RGI Kelly Gallery - Glasgow
July-Sept 2011 - Scottish Landscapes by Rail - Royal Over-Seas League - Edinburgh
June-July 2011 - Sketches from Canada - The Line Gallery - Linlithgow
April-May 2010 - From Woodland to Shore - Inverarity One to One - Edinburgh
July-Sept 2009 - Waters of Scotland - Royal Over-Seas League - Edinburgh
August 2008 - Aberdeen-Inverness Rail 150th - Elgin Museum - Elgin

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Leo du Feu

Lived Experience

The Energy of The Island

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