Leslie Charleville is a Louisiana artist who specializes in the 17th-century Japanese art form of gyotaku, or fish rubbing.Beginning in the 17th century, Japanese fishermen used a printmaking process called "Gyotaku" to document their catches, recording the animal’s size and individual characteristics with sumi ink on rice paper. Leslie has mastered this sophisticated technique on not only fish and marine life but also Louisiana's most popular mascot, the alligator.​ Like her Japanese predecessors, Leslie definitely prints a lot of fish. However, she is probably best-known for her alligators. She prints freshly-harvested gators that are twice, three times, even four times her height and weight, never flinching and always ready to adapt to the challenges that inevitably occur when printing a thirteen-foot dinosaur creature. Leslie’s work is physical. Printing gators and 600-pound tuna is just as labor-intensive as it sounds. More physical than even that, though, is the printing process. When Leslie creates her prints, she takes great care to appreciate and document every little quality that made the animal unique, a creature that lived and breathed. Her prints contain the animal’s DNA, permanently pressed onto the surface and giving the creature new life. Leslie expertly captures the animal’s individual features, imperfections and all, beautifully honoring the animal forever. From Leslie: "The art is secondary to the message I want to leave with people who I meet. More than anything, I want folks to look at what I do and recognize that there's a Light on L.Charleville Studios that transcends this world... After all, it’s not my talent to begin with. I just want to use it for good and make a difference in the lives of the people I encounter!"