Welcome to Lee Studio,

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

Leslie's
Armchair Travel

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Thursday 1 May 2008 Inverlochy Castle Hotel Fort William, Scotland “Inverlochy Castle sits under Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in Scotland. We found the approach to the castle on the first try and wound our way through woods on the drive up a rise. The car barely fit inside the drop-off, old as it was, with its stone arches. With the bags strapped on top, it looked like the Clampetts of Beverly Hillbillies fame had arrived.” 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 1 Scotland Fort William, Inverlochy Castle, Ben Nevis crop) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Scotland #FortWilliam #InverlochyCastleHotel
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Wednesday 30 April 2008 Bunchrew House Hotel Inverness, Scotland “When I walked into the lounge this first full night before dinner, I saw Harry sitting alone in the bay window in one of the old chairs, his hands resting on the arms. He sat in profile, head angled slightly to gaze out the windows of the room. I sat next to him, and he turned to me. ‘I’ve been here before,’ he said. ‘You’ve been to Scotland?’ I asked, surprised. ‘No, I don’t mean that,’ he said. ‘I’ve been here, in this house somehow. I know where all the rooms will be, I’ve seen these paintings on the walls in these exact places, I’ve just been here or even lived here.’ He turned to look out the window, engulfed in the sensation of déjà vu.” 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: (DSCF0482.jpg) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Scotland #Inverness #BunchrewHouseHotel
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Saturday 20 September 2014 Isle of Skye Scotland “Does everyone who comes here fall in love with the place and want to live here? If they’d named it the Isle of Mud, would people feel the same? No, they named it the Isle of Skye, which in Norse means Isle of the Clouds. Off we went to explore Elgol, a fishing settlement on a south-pointing arm of the Minginish Peninsula. At last, after rolling up and down the two-track, we arrived in tiny Elgol for our hike. As we walked along the Cuillen Mountains and the Sea of the Hebrides, my hair curled softly, my eyes opened wide under the high grey cover of clouds, and my shoes crunched the fine gravel.” 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: (2014 9 20 Scotland Isle of Skye, Elgol, The Cuillen Mountains) #LeeStudio #traveljournal #travelbooks #travelart #artwork #customartwork #uniquegifts #Scotland #IsleofSkye #CuillenMountains #Elgol #MinginishPeninsula
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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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