Welcome to Lee Studio,

Inside you will find Leslie's Travel Companion books & artwork.

Leslie's
Armchair Travel

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“I woke to sun and breeze. No go on a ferry boat ride, or even on Friday because of an impending storm. Maybe next week. It has just occurred to me that Roaring Water Bay may have gotten its name from the river and not the other way around. Roaring Water—was the bay named after the river, and the river named after a place in the townland? This morning we’re off to try to find the Roaring Water River in Prohoness, or my new favorite ancient name, Proch an Easa. I hoped to find at least a small waterfall with the hole into which it cascaded. I remembered the property being improved by the young man and his wife with the beautiful stonework wall we had seen earlier and the small river that wound around the bench in their side yard. I wanted to see it on the other side of the road. On the first visit, I had seen the old bridge—not large, maybe ten feet across—that hinted of water.” —image and excerpt from The Hole Made by a Waterfall (2019 04 18 Ireland, Schull, View North from Schull Cottages) https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/the-hole-made-by-a-waterfall.html #ireland #schullcottages #traveljournal #prohoness #artwork #leestudio
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“It was a leisurely morning of writing and drawing maps. Then we were off to explore Aughadown and Prohoness. A word about the spelling and pronunciation of Irish place names—sometimes on maps Aghadown has the letter u, as in Aughadown, and sometimes it doesn’t. When I asked a local about that, she laughed and said ‘Yes, and sometimes it’s pronounced with a soft guttural for the gh, Aghadown, but others pronounce it Affadown. Don’t even get me started on how to pronounce Prohoness,’ she said. I later looked up the meaning of the name Aghadown. In Irish, Achadh Duin, means ‘the field of the fort.’ As it turns out, my later exploration of the word Prohoness would lead me to the answer of a great mystery.” —image and excerpt from The Hole Made by a Waterfall (2019 04 23 Ireland, Proch An Easa, Aughadown Map) https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/the-hole-made-by-a-waterfall.html #ireland #aughadown #traveljournal #illustratedmaps #artwork #leestudio
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“We’re so sad to be leaving Ireland in two days. I’m packed up to leave my home away from home here in Dingle, An Dangean, my stronghold at the Water’s Edge. On one last drive of the peninsula, I took Vicki to see the Gallarus Oratory, and monastic site.” —image and excerpt from The Hole Made by a Waterfall (2010 11 16 Ireland, Co. Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Reasc, 6th Century Monastic Site) https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/the-hole-made-by-a-waterfall.html #ireland #monasticsite #traveljournal #dinglepeninsula #artwork #leestudio
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About the Author

After a lifetime of writing, Leslie has decided that it’s time to share. She is now publishing her travel journals, non-fiction, poetry, and essays which will be available for purchase here on the Lee Studio website, at bookstores, and on the web. Her most recent project has been to edit thirty illustrated travel journals as a series called Leslie’s Travel Companions, referring to the little black book and tiny paint kit that she carried everywhere in her pocket.

In 2020, Lee completed Book Two of the Travel Companion series, Leslie’s Field Guide to Ireland, a pocket-sized reference to the history and culture of the land along with her favorite sites of interest in Ireland. It’s meant to be carried, referred to, and written in until it becomes a cherished memento of the trip itself. Book One, We Are the Land, Ireland, published in 2019, began with a search for understanding her Irish ancestry and ended on a romping road trip with her sisters across the Emerald Isle that brought them to a surprise conclusion.

Leslie wrote the poem, “Sacred Space” in 2014 to accompany the beautiful architectural photography of the iconic Michigan home, Pine Hollow, in her book Sacred Space, Pine Hollow. Reaching deep in the past to her first book, Lee edited and authored, Backcountry Ranger, the Diaries and Photographs of Norton Pearl in Glacier National Park 1910-1913 while cozied in her tiny home-built cabin on the edge of Torch Lake, Michigan beginning in 1976 and finally publishing in 1994.

Lee lives in northern Michigan where she raised her family. She’s a lover of nature, travel, history, genetic ancestry, linguistics, and her home on the Great Lakes. Always hoping for one last adventure, she’s holding off on completing her memoir.

“I was completely charmed by this insightful and heartfelt portrait of Ireland. Leslie Lee’s descriptions of the people she met and the places she visited are so well written, so immediate, that I felt like I was there.” Jerry Dennis, Michigan Author

About the Artist

Not formally trained in art, Leslie began to draw when she traveled as a way to see more clearly what was around her. She carried a notebook, pen and tiny paint kit instead of a camera, and when everyone else was clicking away, she whipped out her kit and painted—fast. The simplicity of her paint palette and the speed with which she painted has become her signature style.

Northwest Lower Michigan defines her. She considers herself part of the landscape among the bluestems and butterfly weed, beneath the cedars, willows, and maple trees. The wind of the woods and water speak her language and sing the songs of her childhood. How will a visitor know us if we don’t know who we are? How will we venture out in the world if we have nothing of ourselves to offer? If we treasure our origins, we take these gifts out to the world as we travel, and come home again, enriched twice over. Wherever we are, every day, we create the story and the adventure of our lives. Here are her favorite stories and drawings.

After a lifetime of writing and painting in the margins of work and family, now semi-retired, Leslie has made it a priority to share. Thirty years of travel journals and paintings have been dusted off, edited, and excerpted and will be appearing here on her website as books, fine art, folded note cards and postcards, and other gifts and products for sale.

Leslie's Note Cards

All of our fine art reproductions use archival inks and paper and are suitable for framing. Giclee is another term for this process. The color and quality of the reproductions are so impeccable, it’s difficult to tell they’re not the originals until you turn them over to read the printed details of the image. Framed, they look great on the wall and make wonderful gifts.

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Leslie's Artwork

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