Welcome to Lee Studio,

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

Leslie's
Armchair Travel

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Friday 10 September 2010 Ballyhannon Castle Quin, County Clare, Ireland “This day we met our tour driver, Declan. We’re day-tripping from here. The small tour bus, with windows that opened, was just large enough for our group to hear each other and Declan while we watched the scenes of Ireland unfold. What a treat for me to be able to look around as opposed to being at the wheel.” https:/www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/the-hole-made-by-a-waterfall.html —Excerpt and image from The Hole Made by a Waterfall: (2010 9 10 Ireland, Co. Kerry, Torc Falls) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Ireland #BallyhannonCastle #Quin #CountyClare #TorcFalls #CountyKerry
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Sunday 15 June 2003 Loch Torridon Country House Hotel Wester Ross, Scotland “Lovely weather, sixty degrees and overcast. I woke early enough but enjoyed two cups of coffee in bed writing a postcard to Mom with a little watercolor of the scene outside my window in the back. Met Roger, the activities director, who was quickly overwhelmed with our many requests to try all activities. He is slender, soft spoken, and twinkly. In good humor, he set us off on a climb on Beinn Alligin across the loch. We entered a beautiful, old woods bordering a stream for the first eighth mile, then the path flattened on an easy walk up alongside the river with waterfalls now and then crossing the bridge, branching left, then arcing up more steeply. I found a perfect rock to sit on for painting; it even had a recess with water in it to accommodate my watercolors.” https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/six-degrees-of-latitude-travel-tales-of-scotland-and-ireland.html —Excerpt and image from Six Degrees of Latitude: (2003 6 15 Scotland, Loch Torridon, Up Beinn Alligin) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Scotland #TheTorridon #WesterRoss #LochTorridon
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Tuesday 13 May 2008 Ghan House Carlingford, Ireland “This day, we rove to visit Newgrange, the four-thousand-year-old ceremonial site. The visit was profound and worthy of further study. Essentially, in my view, the enormous hand-built mounds were centers for spiritual ritual and astronomy. I believe the early culture used them for studying the seasons, the skies, and all things agricultural in order to successfully bring about a new spring, new harvest, fertility for all, and everlasting life.” https://www.leestudiotc.com/books/products/six-degrees-of-latitude-travel-tales-of-scotland-and-ireland.html —Excerpt and image from Six Degrees of Latitude: (2008 5 13 Ireland Newgrange, Guide Leaning) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Ireland #GhandHouse #Carlingford #Newgrange
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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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