Leslie Watkins

Leslie Watkins is a plein-air landscape painter. She finds a spot she likes and paints an oil sketch in one session. If it's a place she is especially drawn to, she'll return and do several more studies. Later in the studio these studies are sources of information used to create larger compositions. What appeals to her about a spot is the way the light moves across it, the composition of the trees, mountains, and topography. She tries to capture the quality of the day and a sense of place.

Watkins has exhibited at The National Arts Club, The Salmagundi Club, The Union League Club, The Hudson Valley Art Association, The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, The Old Lyme Art Association and others. Her work has been shown at various galleries in New York and Japan. Leslie's illustrations have appeared internationally on postage stamps and in books and magazines. Clients have included Tiffany & Co., Disney's Animal Kingdom, and Nickelodeon.

Leslie has taught art classes at Skidmore College through the International Women's Writing Guild, at the Garrison Art Center in NY, at the The Berkshire Botanical Garden, at the Bushnell-Sage Library in Sheffield, MA through the Housatonic Valley Art League, and at the Old Lyme Art Association.