Welcome to Lee Studio,

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

Leslie's
Armchair Travel

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Thursday 19 April 2007 Mornington House Co. Meath, Newgrange Ireland “In Ireland, this enormous megalithic monument of ceremony and mystery is known as Bru na Boinne. It is an earthen dome thirty-six feet high and two hundred-forty feet across surrounded by ninety-seven engraved kerb stones. Most scholars call it a passage tomb. It is one of three known related structures situated on the banks of the Boyne River. At more than five thousand years old it is older than the pyramids, older than Stonehenge, and older than the tombs of Mycenae. For years I’ve pursued an interest in ancient symbols. I’ve also been intrigued with the social and intellectual aspects of the people of the Mesolithic era of ten thousand to six thousand years ago, and Neolithic era of six thousand to four thousand years ago. I chose our lodgings at Mornington House to be close by and called in advance for tickets to tour inside the ancient structures.” https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/we-are-the-land-ireland.html —Image from We Are the Land, Ireland 2nd Edition: (2007 04 19 Ireland, Co. Meath, Newgrange, Entrance) LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Ireland #CountyMeath #Newgrange #DiscoverIreland
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Sunday 17 July 2011 Torch Lake Michigan “The cottonwood that the neighbor lady planted when she was young is alive with the wind–hush, shush, softer, louder, flickering, waving. Is it on another planet? The pine–smaller–under it hardly stirs. The other yard trees merely gently wave their limbs. It is the messenger of the south wind.” https://www.leestudiotc.com —Excerpt and image from Leslie’s Travel Companion Journal: 2011 Elk Rapids, Michigan (2011 07 17 Michigan, Elk Rapids, Torch Lake Cabin, Cottonwood and Pine) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Michigan #ElkRapids #TorchLake
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December 2014 Hana, Maui Hawaii “The road from Hana back on the south side was extraordinarily beautiful. It was like the vast, rolling wheat fields of Montana rising to the mountains, but bordered by the ocean. My cottage is ever-so-sweet. It looks out through a swath of green down to the ocean where the surf pounds. A wide porch protects the inner rooms that can be opened to the exterior, or not, by sliding louvered doors. It is like being in camp with simple direct access to nature.” https://www.leestudiotc.com —Excerpt and image from Leslie’s Travel Companion Journal: 2014 Hawaii, Maui (2014 12 00 Hawaii, Maui, Travaasa, Hana Bay) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Hawaii #Maui #Hana
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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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