Welcome to Lee Studio,

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

Leslie's
Armchair Travel

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Saturday 27 November 1999 Siena, Italy “Ate lunch at a rather American Trattoria, the ‘Bistrot of Actors.’ Up the tower at the D’uomo since the Dome itself was closed. Having some trouble scheduling eating and museums on Sunday–Mondays. The view from the tower is glorious. The D’uomo is right outside my bedroom window. Feel like the queen of Florence in this new room.” https://www.leestudiotc.com —image and excerpt from Leslie’s Travel Companion Journal: 1999 Italy (1999 11 27 Italy, Siena, Roof of the Certosa di Maggiano) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Italy #Siena #D’uomo #CertosadiMaggiano
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Friday 16 May 2008 Newport House Newport, Ireland “This evening, we decided to cross the intersection at the bridge to have dinner at the Grainne Uaile pub. The other in our party left for the hotel and an early bedtime, leaving Froggie and me to listen to an evening of terrific music that started with three musicians, then became four. Then four musicians became eight. Soon there were five fiddles, two squeeze boxes, two flutes, one banjo, and two bouzoukis. A ceilidh! I watched, drew, sipped, and listened with delight.” 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 15 Ireland Newport, The Grainne Uaile, Then Four; 2008 5 15 Ireland Newport, The Grainne Uaile, Then Eight; 2008 5 15 Ireland Newport, The Grainne Uaile,Then Twelve) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Ireland #CountyMayo #NewportHouse #TheGrainneUailePub
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Sunday 12 September 2010 Ballyhannon Castle County Clare, Ireland “The music was vigorous and in parts, joyful, or mournful. Their ability to pace themselves—to pause, stop, light in again—seemed almost mystically of one mind. Uilleann pipes are akin to Scottish bagpipes, but more complicated and tuneful. In movie soundtracks, when we think we’re hearing Scottish bagpipes, in actuality, they’re usually Uilleann pipes. They have a saying about them, ‘Six years a learning, six years a practicing, and six years a playing to become an Uilleann piper.’” https://www.leestudiotc.com —image and excerpt from Leslie’s Travel Companion Journal: 2010 Ireland, County Clare (2010 09 12 Ireland, Co. Clare, Quin, Ballyhannon Castle, Cyril, Daddy Cool) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #customartwork #uniquegifts #travelart #artwork #Ireland #CountyClare #Quin #BallyhannonCastle
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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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