Shirley Leonardi was born and raised in the Peace River area of Alberta.  She enjoyed walking in the treed areas and along the creek of the family farm surrounded by nature and animals.  As well, Shirley’s passion for the mountains began as a child through many family vacations to the Rockies.  Subsequently, even her first artistic endeavors were an example of this love and fascination with all types of nature.

Since 1970, Shirley and her husband have resided in Jasper, where they raised their three children.  She worked as a teacher at the Jasper Elementary School and then as a billing clerk in the Cottage Medical Clinic.  Throughout her adult life the emotional connection with nature, which Shirley felt as a child, has continued to grow through her activities of hiking, biking and skiing.

Shirley has always enjoyed art, with sketching being the prominent form of the discipline.  Her style has always been between realistic and impressionistic.

Upon her retirement in 2000, she became interested in watercolors and has been actively painting and depicting our beautiful and majestic mountains ever since.  Her artwork provides a visual experience which captures the spirit of the outdoors, the awe and beauty of nature.  Other subjects that she has painted are:  flowers, birds, farmlands, seascapes and desert scenes.   She also expresses herself in pen and ink drawings.

Shirley has been predominantly self-taught, although several local artists have influenced her in her painting; including Alan Butler, Harold Olsen, and Ray Syrja.  She has participated in several group shows and has had six solo showings.   Her paintings can be seen in private collections in Canada, as well as around the world (England, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, Australia, and the United States).

Shirley Leonardi
sfleonardi@telus.net