My Story

Growing up in the 1980’s near the mountains, Leslie felt most free spending time with her family on a lake surrounded by pine trees, without a care in the world. Seeing wildlife was a part of everyday life there. They belonged. She belonged.

Back home in the suburbs, over the years, her house was home to a dog, a cat, birds, fish and a rabbit. Animals belonged in her world, while her parents collected artwork from galleries and furniture at auctions to decorate their home.

Alongside nature and animals, she loved art. She created her first painting around the age of thirteen. After high school, she planned to study photography, and while preparing her portfolio, she discovered a deeper affinity for drawing and painting. In university, she became fascinated by the emotional language of color, light, and symbolism through a single art history course.

In the midst of heartbreak, she took her first serious painting class. As watercolor moved across the page, beautiful patterns emerged into a flower, and something within her began to heal.

Later, she traveled, moved to Germany, and became a mother. Far from family and familiar surroundings, she struggled to find her place. Over time, loneliness and further heartbreak slowly eroded her sense of self-worth. She went from feeling daring and free to feeling withdrawn and disconnected.

During this time, she began to notice nature differently. She truly heard the birds sing for the first time. She became aware of herself as part of something larger - part of the living world. In nature, she found a calm and connection she had never fully known before.

Searching for herself again eventually led her back to painting. She studied at the Milan Art Institute, became a professional artist, and began painting full time.

Today, she paints moments of connection where nature becomes a conduit back to self and the living world. Using collage, inks, acrylic washes, and finally oils, she creates layered atmospheric spaces where women, animals, and elements of nature emerge deeply interconnected.

Within these paintings, self-worth is not questioned.

Her studio is in her country home, surrounded by trees, fields, wildlife, and farm animals - a place where daily life and the natural world continue to shape her work.