Growing up in the Midwest was when Lesley first started to explore painting. Although she attended college and then the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she also moved around over the years and finally embraced the West Coast as home. Before settling there, she also lived in Italy for three years. Upon returning she made her home in Bellingham, Washington. She very recently moved to Albuquerque, NM where she also has her studio. Lesley currently shows with several galleries in Albuquerque, one in Sandia Park, NM and one in Chicago, IL.
Lesley is a versatile artist whose main painting medium is oils. She has also worked in various forms of printmaking. She has explored three-dimensional art by creating various masks and hand building ceramic pieces. She enjoys and admires the work of other artists, especially the wonderful, dreamlike visions of Marc Chagall’s work and the vibrant and primitive images of Paul Gaugin. She also greatly enjoys the unrestrained artwork of children.
With her paintings she has developed a language that is analogous to her imagination. The way she approaches her work in intuitive and spontaneous. The painting or drawing experience itself is enjoyable and a time of discovery. “I often don’t know exactly what I’m going to end up with until the work is well under way.
One particular line or shape leads into another and things start to come together. I truly enjoy the spontenaity of the images. Almot all of my work is animals and various other invented creatures. I have found it is best to let the flow take me, not to try and force something that won’t work for me. And, it is fun! Many people have called my work joyful. I agree.”
A love of the natural world coupled with a sense of humor and fertile imagination, has certainly helped shape the content of her imagery. Lesley’s work continues to evolve and to provide viewers with wonder and surprise.
