Jonathan Myles-Lea is Britain's leading painter of historic buildings and gardens. Since 1992 he has worked to commission extensively throughout Europe and also in the USA. His landscape paintings are large, but are executed using a meticulous miniaturist technique.

Geometry
Architecture and formal gardens are the subject matter which have defined Myles-Lea's style. However, it is the underlying geometry of the buildings and in the plans of formal gardens which have always captivated him. He is fascinated by forms and structures which are modular, repeating, or symmetrical.

Archetypal Forms
In 2002, whilst living for a year in the centre of Brussels, he began to experiment with the idea of painting geometric forms which have no obvious relationship to the outside world. He describes this as; "a tremendously liberating experience... The forms appeared on the panels or canvases that I was working upon with spontaneity, but also with great certainty. Very quickly I realized that certain reoccurring forms were emerging and it was clear that I was developing a symbolic vocabulary which speaks through archetypal forms such as spheres, arcs, squares and cubes."

Zen & 'No-Mind'
At the time Myles-Lea was painting these new pictures he was developing an interest in the Buddhist concept of 'No-Mind’, in which one attempts to strip away formal thought in order to experience the true nature of reality. He was attempting to transcend the limitations of traditional modes of thinking and the way in which the mind identifies with physical forms. As he explains; "I was embarking upon an important journey to connect with a more authentic and meaningful reality".

Art Deco
Throughout 2003, whilst living in NYC, the artist became fascinated by the Art Deco style which he had first become acquainted with in Belgium. In NYC however, he now saw Art Deco all around him; "from the metal sidewalk grates beneath my feet, to the illuminated sky-scrapers above my head". He spent a great deal of time photographing, drawing and absorbing these geometric shapes and patterns. He also made a study at The New York Public Library of the Native or 'primitive' Cultures which had inspired the Art Deco style.

NYC
The rhythms of NYC also began to appear in Myles-Lea's paintings. The movement of traffic through the grid of Manhattan found its way into the patterns in the paintings. Tall monolithic shapes began to reappear, attended by their equally elongated shadows. More assertive, urban forms, therefore, were being added to the more gentle, rural shapes in his artistic vocabulary.

Modern Mandalas
Now Myles-Lea has returned to London, he has continued to blend the forms which he has seen on his travels with the colours and textures he finds in his home city. The pictures are not about any particular event, place or experience, but they do capture emotions which he believes the observer can tap into if he or she collaborates with the picture.