Time is on my side..yes it is

every year at this time, i get all philisophical and introspective..most people make resolutions on new years eve..not me..i do it on my birthday.
most of the time, no matter how reasonable i try to be in my expectations, i fall short of the goals. but this past year was wonderful. my goal was to create original art for my online shop..i did the first piece on my birthday last year, and then i couldn't stop drawing. i think i've been more creative at this moment in my life than at any other time..amazing.

it's funny how you don't realize the passage of time..a day, an hour, 30 years, and it always seems like yesterday. my oldest son , josh who is 28, is getting married this summer...but i feel like it was just last year that i went to woodstock with my friends . i have a theory that you kind of get stuck in a particular age in your head and for your whole life, that's how you see yourself, mentally. i don't mean that you act that age..you just feel that age, and for me, that's a good thing. i got "stuck " at 25..when i look in the mirror..i see a leslie that's funky and slightly wild and who enjoys her life with the enthusiasm of a 25 year old about to conquer the world. in spite of the challenges and sadness that i've faced, i still get up every day excited about the possibilities ahead of me. when i was 25, i was insecure and unsure of myself..my hair was" too curly", i was" too short," i wasn't a "good enough artist", ..i could go on for ever..BUT as i started to experience life and started to see myself thru other's people 's eyes, i began to accept myself and here i am. today as i sit here, i feel strong and positive, and beautiful and tall enough.

every day, every birthday brings a new chance to get where we need to be, to achieve our goals , to feel good.. and so, i wish a happy birthday to everyone.

Going to great lengths

I love doing murals. You're faced with this enormous blank wall, kinda like a giant piece of paper and you get to draw on it! And you don't get yelled at (like i did when i was little!LOL!) AND you get paid for it!! But the best part is the reaction when i finish..if i'm lucky (and thankfully , that's usually the case) I manage to "see " what my client "sees" in their mind, and i transform the room into the place that they dreamt of.

Sometimes, a client doesn't have the space or budget for a mural..or they don't intend to stay in their apartment or home very long, so they aren't willing to make that investment, but they want to make their child's nursery or new room special. That's when i suggest a custom canvas. Canvases can be any size..from 3 ,small,themed 8 x 10's..like a lion, giraffe and elephant to match the bedding..or a rectangular 4 foot by 8 foot with a name and custom design like princess or sports fanatic (Yankees? Red Sox?..Yankees AND Red SOX? haha, you say? don't laugh!! i did that recently for a couple that had me do one of each for both sides of the room, with logos, bat, ball, jersey ,glove and hats..then i suggested that they start saving for their son's therapist..LOL!!)
Last summer i was commissioned by a lovely couple to do an enormus canvas with an animal jungle theme, and the child's name.."Ryan" with snakes and parrots intertwined on it..and it was fantastic!! They lived in NYC and coz i'm just sooo nice, i offered to bring it to their home on the east side when it was complete. I drove over the bridge, seat dancing to my tunes and as i got on the FDR, i noticed that my thermostat was in the red zone..and i started to panic!! i remembered that if you turn up the heat in your car, the car might not overheat and stop, so, in 85 degrees, i turned my heat on and all the way up, and opened both of my windows, all the way down..and the drivers side window fell out of the track and out of the car!! I'm in traffic that's moving kinda fast and i can't stop and i'm screaming and driving and i look out of my rear view and i see cars swerving around this window (if you've ever been on any highway in NYC, you know, you can't stop..they'll just run you down!) so i keep going and i have the heat on, and i have REALLY curly hair and i have ALOT of REALLY curly hair and between the open window and the heat on in the car, when i got to this couple's aprtment, i looked like an insane person (well, more than i usually do..). The doorman kind of insisted that he'd get one of them to come down, rather than have me go up. And they did, and took the painting and oohed and aahhed over it and moved away from me very quickly and went inside.
Going home back over the bridge was kind of interesting ..like riding thru a wind tunnel..i swear that i felt the G force..maybe that's why people say i don't look my age..hmmm...
If you decide on a canvas, just let me know..i'd love to paint one for you. But i probably won't deliver it.