Leslie is a self taught artist, born and raised in the peculiar and beautiful state of Florida. Introduced to silk painting, her favored medium, in the late 1990’s by a family friend, she has been experimenting, learning, and creating with it since. She enjoys exploring art in many mediums, but creating illustrative style paintings on silk textiles is where she focuses the concentration of her professional works. Her innovative silk paintings are developed in French Serti technique, and more often than not, they are wax batiked, adding additional textures and richer layers of colors. Her work is often regarded with curiosity, as it is unexpected and surprising to some, to see the results she achieves through this medium. Thematically she enjoys whimsical images with narrative themes, often with an element of surrealism. Sometimes her work picks up elements of literature, the human form, or global multiculturalism. Sometimes she is inspired simply by the scenic natural beauty of Seminole County, and the colorful cultures of weird Florida! Residing for over 30 years in a local neighborhood with natural springs feeding into the Little Wekiva River and ultimately the Wekiva River at large, Leslie has a vested interest in preservation of natural lands and water conservancy and is overjoyed to participate in benefiting the Keep Seminole Beautiful and Wekiva Wilderness Trust campaigns. Another cause near and dear to Leslie is the Women In The Arts, Orlando based non-profit, which promotes community arts programs for children, and supports professional and emerging women artists locally and all around the world. The Wekiva Paint out is not her first time silk painting in plein air, but typically she works from her home studio right here in Longwood.