Hi I'm Leslee! 

I grew up in Portland, Oregon but spent most of my adult life in Southern California. My earliest memory of creativity was assigning the days of the week with colors, mostly inspired by the excitement of getting to Saturday morning cartoons!  I spent the first half of my career in Los Angeles, working for technology and software companies such as Hewlett Packard, where I used my degree in business.  But all along I had a strong yearning to create and dreamed of finding the time to develop my passion so I could go out with it into the world.  At a certain age, I became determined to make it happen. I squeezed in fine art classes, dragging my small children with me when needed. Thank goodness for DVD players!  Every Friday for three years, I trained at Mission Renaissance Fine Art Studio with Patricia Merrill. I used these new, exciting skills off and on for years,  making art for family, friends school projects and volunteer organizations.  When an unexpected move from Southern California to Mckinney, Texas happened in 2014, (where i didn't know a single soul) I knew I'd need to find my people somehow through art. One night, I just decided to paint a pet portrait for my daughter, and things just started happening from there! Fueled by this momentum, I began to pursue my dream of making art my main focus. How lucky was I to land in a place with a thriving art community and friendly artists who were open and supportive. Creating every day is a beyond awesome! I paint colorful art and contemporary pet portraits and I know I'm doing what is exactly right for me.  I love sharing my creativity with others and making whatever difference I can through work with The McKinney Art Club, The McKinney Creative Community, The McKinney Art Studio Tour,  The Samaritan Inn Homeless Shelter, and Dwell with Dignity in Dallas. 

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Days of the week as assigned by me sometime in early childhood:

Monday - Red

Tuesday - Yellow

Wednesday - Green

Thursday - Orange

Friday - Brown

Saturday - Pink

Sunday - Blue

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