Lesley received her degree in fine art from Purdue University and is a member of the Hoosier Art Salon and Hamilton County Art Association. Her oil paintings are representational with a fairly impressionistic style. She prefers to paint from life especially for fruit and flower paintings and most of her landscapes are done plein air (on location). She believes “There is nothing more in the moment than immersing yourself in the millions of small decisions of color, shape and composition that make up a painting from life."