Leslie Pratt-Thomas

 

            “I think the best word to describe the desire I feel daily to represent the visual world around me through oil painting is passion.  There isn’t anything else I do in which I feel so fully engaged.  There is something about the lushness of the medium, potential harmony of color, and the process of paint application that I find totally consuming.” 

 

            Although Leslie loves painting “en plein air” (in the open), or setting up figurative and still life arrangements in her studio, painting a portrait is a particular passion for her.  Early in her life she was encouraged to draw by her artist mother and was attracted specifically to rendering the human form.  She has an eye for detail, a sense of placement, and a determination to capture a true likeness which makes her particularly suited to portrait painting. 

 

            She has painted in oil for about fifteen years, and for some of those took weekly painting lessons from noted artists in the lowcountry.  Since then she has pursued working with some of America’s best artists in workshop settings around the country and abroad.  Common advice she has received from all these mentors stress the importance of drawing daily, painting from life, and painting a variety of subjects.  Leslie incorporates these suggestions as a happy part of her daily regimen.

 

            Leslie has won numerous awards for her work and has recently had a piece entitled I Can Fly, chosen for the cover of Swimming Lessons by New York Times best-selling author, Mary Alice Monroe. 

 

            She was born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1952 and moved to Boston in her teens.  As a result of a weekend getaway from her undergraduate studies at Furman University, she became enamored with Charleston and chose it to be her home.  She married, received her graduate degree in clinical counseling, and worked in that field for several years before having her two sons.  Since becoming a full-time artist, she is dedicated to painting Tuesdays and Wednesdays from life with her artist friends, or can be found working in her studio.

 

 

Gallery Representation

 

Sandpiper Gallery

2019 Middle Street

Sullivan’s Island, South Carolina  29482

 

Edward Dare Gallery

31 Broad Street

Charleston, South Carolina  29401

 

 

Memberships

 

Charleston Outdoor Painters Association (COPA)

Charleston Artist Guild (CAG) Exhibiting Member

Oil Painters of America (OPA) Associate Member

Portrait Society of America

 

Awards and Exhibitions

 

 

2007   

·        Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition (juried), Charleston, SC

                     Honorable Mention (Frolicking Foam)

·        Four Person Show @ Sandpiper Gallery, Sullivan’s Island, SC

·        National book release:  Swimming Lessons (I Can Fly – cover art)

      

2006  

·        Charleston Artist Guild Holiday Show (juried), Charleston, SC

                    2^nd place (Pursuit of a Bouquet)

·        Group Show @ Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

                    “The Artist’s Eye” sponsored by the SC Portrait Society of America

·        Painting (I Can Fly) chosen for cover of Swimming Lessons by author Mary Alice Munroe, New York Times best-seller                                   

·        Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition (juried), Charleston, SC

 

2005  

·        One Woman Show @ Edward Dare Gallery, Charleston, SC

                        “Our Landscape”

·        Group Show @ Havens Framing, Columbia, SC, invitation

·        Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition (juried), Charleston, SC

·        Group Show @ Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

                        “Art of Diversity Among Women,” sponsored by MUSC, College of Charleston

                        Women’s Studies, and the Center for Women, invitation

 

2004  

·        Two Person Show @ Sandpiper Gallery, Sullivan’s Island, SC

·        Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition (juried), Charleston, SC

 

2003  

·        Two Person Show @ Spencer Gallery, Charleston, SC

·        Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition (juried), Charleston, SC

                        Merit Award (Pitt Street Reflections)

·        Portrait Unveiling @ Charleston County Courthouse, Charleston, SC, commissioned by Charleston County Bar to do the portrait of retiring Circuit Court Judge, The Honorable A. Victor Rawl

·        Charleston Artist Guild Show (juried), Charleston, SC

                        2^nd place (New York is Exhausting)

 

2002 

·        Mt. Pleasant Arts Festival, Mt Pleasant, SC

                        3^rd place (Surf’s Up)

·        Blessing of the Fleet, Mt Pleasant, SC

                        Best in Show (Surf’s Up)

 

 

2001 

·        Painting (I Can Fly) chosen for the cover of Skirt! Magazine (June issue), Charleston, SC

·        One Woman Show @ Blink!, Charleston, SC

·        Blessing of the Fleet, Mt. Pleasant, SC

                        3^rd place (Summer Harvester)

·        Mt. Pleasant Arts Festival, Mt. Pleasant, SC

                        2^nd place (Summer Harvester)

·        Charleston Artist Guild Show (juried), Charleston, SC

                        3^rd place (Summer Harvester)