Art Blog

03Mar 2021 by Leisa

House Portraits in Vibrant Tampa FL neighborhoods

Updating my Tampa House Portrait Series Craftsman, Bungalow, Tudors, Ranches and tasteful new builds... Tampa has it all! What a diverse architectural experience Tampa has proven to be! I had no idea of the number of interesting architectural gems that were hidden in the city;s leafy tree-lined streets and historic urban avenues. I started my Tampa house portrait series two years ago and feel I now have a eclectic and interesting mix of architectural styles in my collection. I will be including my favorites in the Tampa section of my coffee table book that will be released later this year. In the meantime I wanted to show off this lovely array of homes that depict the best of Tampa and show the pride and care that Tampa residents, and now…

03Mar 2021 by Leisa

New Project to Help Artists Flourish

News, The Flourishing Artist

Why not make your living from your art? While the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in unprecedented ways, one of the hardest hit sectors is the global arts community. Museums had to close their doors. Concerts, art festivals and individual shows which so many artists rely on, were suddenly cancelled. Regrettably the end is not in sight. Not only am I fortunate to work mainly from home, but by increasing my marketing efforts I continued to receive commission requests for my architectural art from around the country. After achieved my goal of creating paintings of homes and historic buildings in all 50 states, I used the lockdown period to compile a coffee table book which documents that journey. However, my heart aches for fellow artists who have not fared…

13Feb 2021 by Leisa

Marin County House Portraits Blending with Nature

Coffee Table Book, House Portraits

The Beginnings of Marin County Home Portrait Collection Marin County is a magical place that reminds me of my homeland of New Zealand, especially the hillside city of Auckland, where I grew up and first became interested in historic homes and architecture. [caption id="attachment_24726" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Hillside homes in Greenbrae, Marin Country, CA[/caption] Located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it sits across from the famous Golden Gate Bridge. Founded in 1850, Marin County is one of the original 27 counties of California. Its founding followed shortly after the adoption of the California Constitution of 1849 and just months before the state was admitted to the Union. Marin County is the smallest of the San Francisco Bay Area counties, both in size and population. It's natural…

13Feb 2021 by Leisa

East Grand Rapids House Portrait Collection now Grown to Forty Original Paintings!

House Portraits, News

Craftsmen, Tudors, Colonials, Cape Cods and more architectural styles captured in East Grand Rapids Collection. Grand Rapids, known as the City of Churches, has always had a soft spot for eye-catching architecture. Nestled just 20 miles east of Lake Michigan, the second largest city in Michigan is home to a diverse selection of beautiful neighborhoods and suburbs, both historic and eclectic but still growing with modern styles; seemingly paying homage to the designers who paved the way. One of these communities is East Grand Rapids. one of the oldest suburbs in Kent County. It sits on Reeds Lake, named after the Reed family who founded the city back in the 1830’s. It boasts a variety of home styles and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed creating each of the forty original house portrait…

24Sep 2020 by Leisa

Pen and watercolor barn in Tennessee … its in my upcoming book!

Coffee Table Book

No, I don't just paint houses.... anything that is in any way architectural and crosses my path is liable to be captured. These days I am blessed to get a constant flow of commissioned custom portrait work, such as this gorgeous barn in rural Tennessee. It is still an operating farm and has been in the same family for over a hundred years. And of course it will be featured in my coffee table book that will be released later this year so be on the lookout!

14Apr 2020 by Leisa

Bringing Spring into Your Home

House Portraits, News

While turmoil rages in the world . . . spring is here and knocking at your door In the words of William Shakespeare.... “April hath put a spirit of youth in everything." Being that I love to travel, my first response to being stuck at home was outrage. When I got over that and faced the fact that this is a necessity right now, my usual optimism set in and I decided to find a silver lining in this situation. Besides doing my usual house portrait work, I realized this is the perfect opportunity to make great strides in compiling my coffee table book so it can be published and released later this year. I confess that I have made more progress on this project in the last two weeks…

28Mar 2020 by Leisa

Welcome Spring!

House Portraits

Spring has sprung! Actually this portrait was created from photos I took last bring when in Minneapolis MN. Just love the welcoming front garden. I would call it free-hand sculptured landscaping. Hey, I just made up a new term! This beautiful Victorian farm house style home really stood out from the crowd however. The original painting will shortly be hanging inside this home. The homeowner was kind enough to give me some info about the home which is below. [caption id="attachment_15890" align="aligncenter" width="3801"] This historic beauty has stood in this location in Minneapolis MN for over a hundred years.[/caption] This interesting snippet is directly from the homeowner: "The home was built in 1903, and the person who restored it (in 2007) did an incredible job between keeping the charm of…

26Mar 2020 by Leisa

Nashville Homes Series!

House Portraits, News

Georgian, Craftsman Homes, Bungalows, Tudors, Colonials, Cape Cods, Ranch style, and more in my Nashville House Portrait collection. Nashville is such a fun and vibrant city and its architecture is just as interesting. Commonly known as "the Music City", Nashville is an icon in American culture. Its where talented artists migrate for a chance to break into the industry and achieve their dreams. With architectural gems like the Ryman Auditorium and Belmont Mansion , Nashville also has a rich history and over the decades it has attracted artists of all genres. Though I did bring my guitar, my aspiration was to find some architectural stars for my Nashville home portrait series. One of the first architectural icons I visited in Nashville was the Replica of the Parthenon in Greece. The…

12Mar 2020 by Leisa

Returning to my Auckland NZ roots. . .

News

Retracing my artistic journey and being shocked at what was no longer there Going home to New Zealand is always a sentimental journey for me. While I have returned to my Auckland hometown many times since marrying an American and living in the USA for the last three decades, this time was different. I decided I would retrace my footsteps of those early days when I abandoned a formal art education and opted for the adventure of going it alone and making my living from my art. It was Auckland's inner-city historic homes and architecture that sparked my passion for architectural art. Images of my paintings and photos from this time are sparse, but I dug around and collected up every remnant I could find. I was determined to go…

25Feb 2020 by Leisa

San Antonio House Portrait Collection

House Portraits, News

Watercolor Paintings in San Antonio When I ventured into San Antonio for the first time while touring Texas I was pleasantly surprised at the sheer diversity and impressive array of house portrait styles. I guess I was expecting to see many more Spanish style homes but I found that the Greater San Antonio area has it all! In studying up more, I learned that architecture in San Antonio comes from a wide variety of sources. While it is true that many of the city's homes reflect Texas' Spanish and Mexican roots; with some influence from French builders, rapid growth in the city since the mid twentieth century has led to a fairly wide variety of interesting contemporary architectural buildings as well. San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the U.S. and the 2nd largest…

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