Artist Leon Pappas and his wife Helen moved to Benalla last year.
While exploring the town they found themselves in the Visitor Information Centre where they were directed to North East Artisans on Carrier St.
NEA member DeSales Turner said she was in the gallery one day when a couple walked in and told her about their works.
“Leon said he might be interested in exhibiting some of his work at NEA,” Ms Turner said.
“They invited us to their home and see his work to see if we were interested.”
Ms Turner said interested was an understatement.
“Leon works in an amazing array of styles, from oil to water colour and acrylic,” she said.
“He started painting when he migrated form Sparta without his parents, that was post World War II.
“He came over first then eventually he was joined by more relatives.
“He played in a rock band and was a bass player, they were pretty successful.
“Then he developed an interest in painting and studied at Monash University. He has been painting ever since.”
Ms Turner said after seeing some of his work NEA told him they would love to have him on board.
“His wife Helen is also an artist, she makes amazing collages from beads,” Ms Turner said.
“She has a very different style to Leon and we will host an exhibition of her work later in the year.”
Leon’s exhibition is on display at NEA on Carrier St.
Ms Turner said the gallery was looking forward to hosting an exhibition by Merv Beamish in the coming months.
“We also have our workshops returning, we are working on the next series at the moment,” she said.
Keep an eye out in the pages of the Benalla Ensign and on www.benallaensign.com.au for details of those as they become available.