Leslie Ann Lemieux - Artist-Illustrator,Possible Writer

4x6 inch drawing on 8x10 Bristol Board. Drawn with Pilot .03 ballpoint pen. 
Each of us feel like the weight of the world is heavy upon us now. The third year of the Covid pandemic has so many of us just feeling like this sampling pine. Cold, icy snow just pulling its weight down on our feebleness. It’s hard at these times, to remember that snow eventually melts away. Let’s hope the Corona virus will too eventually be gone in days to come.

 

4x6 inch drawing on 8x10 Bristol Board. Drawn with Pilot 03. ballpoint pen. Based on a photo taken at a local park where I live. Continuation of the theme of paths, this is where the path is gone. It’s blocked. A perfect allegory of what life sometimes does to us.

Pen and Ink, .03 Pilot Pen, on 8.5x10.5 Bristol Board. Image itself is 6-8 inches in size. 
Based on a photo I took years ago, when I lived in southern part of Montana. The Tobacco Roots mountains loom over the valley. This rutted road was the actual route that the old Yellowstone Stagecoaches took tourists over to see Yellowstone Park from Bozeman Montana. My great-grandfather was one of the original drivers of those coaches. To see his mark on the land, a full century later was a deeply moving experience for me. 

Pen and Ink, .03 Pilot Pen, on 8x10 inch Bristol Board. Image is 6x8 inches. Based off of a photo I took at the Columbia Gorge outside of Portland Oregon. On top of the Columbia Gorge, where the winds are very strong, these trees speak to me, of letting the forces of life to create bends in ones life on our journeys. Leaning into what is in our paths makes us more interesting and beautiful.

Pen and Ink, .03 Pilot Pen on 8x10 Bristol Board. Based on a photo I took walking through a nature park in the town I live in. The sunlight on the path invited me to keep going even deeper. Which at this point of the hike, was a little daunting for my mobility issues. I had to make a choice to see where the path would end. Fortunately for me, the remainder of the hike was not as long as I feared. How often do we not do anything more due to fear of the unknown? Going deeper invited me to overcome the unknown.

6x8 inch image. Drawn with a  03. Pilot pen and on 8x10 inch Bristol Board. Based on a photograph of a country road in central Oregon. This dirt road in western Oregon, was nothing extra ordinary at first glance. It is the looking more than once to find the elements that make anything beautiful. The three pine trees in the foreground and the ones in the background jumped out at me. They were a different type of pine tree from the others surrounding them. A family in my mind. A good find for the day.

Fine tipped ballpoint pen on bristol board. 
Size 5”x7” inches 

Based on an old photograph taken in the Cabinet Wilderness. When I took this photo, I was recently divorced. This journey with another recently divorced mother, took me into an actual wilderness area. We spent the weekend hiking up to this beautiful little meadow with a glacier lake behind it. The area was covered with beautiful wildflowers. It was my first real hike into the wilds.

This is currently being donated for a charity in the town I live in. The fundraiser was successful. The drawing got a new forever home.

5 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch drawing on Bristol Board done with .03 Pilot ballpoint pen. 
Sometimes, the roads are easy for us to just drive on. This is a common road in the area. But, the lovely twists that is at this junction, forces the driver to slow down and see the beauty of the towering trees. Straight roads may get you where you want faster, but the winding road will slow you down to notice what is really there. 

5 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch pen and ink drawing. Sketchbook paper mounted on illustration board.
This little drawing is based on a photo I took in one of the parks close to where I live. The flowers were daring me to get of the regular path and follow them into the wide meadow past the trees. How many little things try to get us off the path we are on? Is is a worthwhile endeavor to let go of the routes we are currently on?

Acrylic painting on a 24x36 inch raised canvas. 

Pen and ink drawing done with fine point marking pen.
On a 15x20 inch gessoed white illustration mat board.

This drawing is based on a lake next to the road going through the north end of the Turnbill Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Washington. It was so peaceful to pass each time I had to go into the town of Cheney. 

Pen and ink drawing done with fine point black Sharpie. 
Drawn on 15'x20' inch ancient illustration board. (some yellowing is beginning to occur)

Based on an actual place I visited in Central Oregon and photographed this past summer of 2020.

This old drawing of mine was returned to me by my mother. I must have given it to her back in the 1980's. It's not for sale. Please enjoy my pen and ink drawing before I went to college to study art.

This is a watercolor/acrylic base painting. In the summer of 2019, I was traveling on the Bozeman Pass in Montana. A immense thunderstorm moved into the region. Struck by the colors of the storm, I took a snapshot so I could paint it one day. The rocks of Chestnut Peak were amazing on the mountainside. I have loved and missed the beautiful thunderstorms that are common to the region during the late spring and summer. This painting was done on 400 lb Hot Pressed Watercolor Paper. The measurements are 32 inches wide by 22 inches long. 

This is a very personal piece for me. For five years, I lived outside of Portland in Clackamas county. There I took care of my elderly father who had dementia. He loved longs drives during the time I was his caregiver up to the last four months of his life. After he passed away, I had to leave the area. When caregiving for an elderly parent with dementia, there is no time for yourself as an artist in the late stages of the disease. There were so many places I had to just drive by. After his death, I decided to paint this autumn scene on the Willamette River looking towards the George Abernathy Bridge where the freeway crosses it. Once again, with only a simple set of children's watercolors, I sat at the park bench to paint this plein air style. This one stays in my own private collection. It is not for sale.

A tiny study in simplicity of color with cheap watercolors that are used by children. This was an experiment to see if I could actually use an inferior medium source and make it actually look decent. It was also an experiment for me to learn to simplify how I paint and draw in general. Based off of a photograph I took on the one evening I stopped at Crater Lake Oregon in 2019. 
7"x10"inches on 140 lb/300 gas Cold Press Watercolor paper.

Due to the Corona Virus 19 Restrictions in the World Postal System, I am not able to send any artwork outside of the United States. Painting is not framed when shipped. It will be on a cardboard backing to withstand any bending during shipping.

A tiny study of color and sunlight with cheap watercolors that are used by children. This was an experiment to see if I could actually use an inferior medium source and make it actually look good. This little African Violet was aglow one day in my studio. I took a photograph of it then decided to try to capture the mood.
On a 6"x 9" inch paper. Painting measures 4"x7" inches

140 lb/300 gas Cold Press Watercolor paper.



Due to the Corona Virus 19 Restrictions in the World Postal System, I am not able to send any artwork outside of the United States. Painting is not framed when shipped. It will be on a cardboard backing to withstand any bending during shipping.

Found this little daffodils looking like it was struggling to keep its head up after an early spring snow in the garden. This time I used acrylic paints thinned to the constancy of watercolors to achieve this realistic painting. 
 
7"x10"inches painting on 9"x12" 140 lb/300 gas Cold Press Watercolor paper.

Due to the Corona Virus 19 Restrictions in the World Postal System, I am not able to send any artwork outside of the United States. Painting is not framed when shipped. It will be on a cardboard backing to withstand any bending during shipping.

Behind the acreage where I am living, the Palouse of Eastern Washington begins with its rolling hills. I caught the sight of the hail lining the furthermost top hill and clouds. The white hillside against the backdrop of the thunderstorm was just stunning to me. I love capturing moments of landscapes like this.
7"x10"inches painting on 9"x12" 140 lb/300 gas Cold Press Watercolor paper.

Due to the Corona Virus 19 Restrictions in the World Postal System, I am not able to send any artwork outside of the United States. Painting is not framed when shipped. It will be on a cardboard backing to withstand any bending during shipping.

Title forgotten, but done around 2011 as well. Based on another photo of the Montana countryside. I think I just loved the way that the movement of the hill flowed with the clouds at the time. How the shadows hit the cliffside. 
8 x12 inch image in watercolor with light beige mat board expanding the measuring size to 15 x 19 inches.

This is an ancient piece done in 2008. My attempt at simplification of a landscape. Based on a photo from a family trip to Glacier National Park when my family was much younger. Still have it. It is up for sale. 
Actual image is approximately 9 x 15 inches. Has black matting to expand to 15 x 20 inches. All colored pencil.

This is a very special piece that is not for sale. But worth sharing. Everyday for a about a year or two, my late husband and I would drive past this spot on the Yellowstone River. He told me one day that this was his favorite spot before on the river. Where the sun glistened just beautifully for him. With the Crazy Mountains behind, Sheep Mountain and the Absorokee Mountains around that corner in the distance, it was indeed magical. Since his birthday was in October, I made this quick sketch of the Yellowstone for his birthday. He enjoyed this drawing for the last two years of his life. This one I am keeping. 

From a photo off of the southern Oregon coast near the seaside town of Brookings. This was my first attempt at trying to make a pen behave more like a brush or pencil than a pen. Not my best piece, but worth sharing. 


15 x 20 inches total on illustration board. Done with a Pilot G- Tec-C3/0.3 size fine tipped black ink pen.

From a photo off of the southern Oregon coast near the seaside town of Brookings. This was my second attempt at trying to make a pen behave more like a brush or pencil than a pen. Not my best piece, but worth sharing. 


15 x 20 inches total on illustration board. Done with a Pilot G- Tec-C3/0.3 size fine tipped blue ink pen.

One day, driving through Montana westward, I saw this amazing light in a set of thunderclouds in the distance. I pulled the car over off the highway and took several photos of the beautiful lighting. Later at home, I manipulated the photo with different levels of saturations and settings. The results were even better. I had to eventually paint it. Even if it meant using cheap watercolors, which I ended up doing. Would love to eventually try this again with better quality paints in a larger format.
Due to circumstances in my life, I still do not have a studio, but I finally do have a table to use for simple, relatively non-messy works. Translations? Small works with watercolor and pencils only. There is something good about small works of art. You have to get up close and intimate with the piece to understand all it is trying to say. This is especially true with this small but powerful watercolor. It is stunning close up. More to see than my cell phone was able to capture here in the photo.

On 9x12 inch Acid Free 140lb. Cold Press Finish Watercolor Paper. Painted with school grade watercolors.