Artist Profile

Andrea E Leland

PETALUMA, CA

I have been working on a series of pastel drawings suggesting nature. Using concentrated colors and working completely intuitively, I paint and draw landscapes and flora and fauna that are bold, vivid and passionate. I seek to amplify nature, employing vibrant colors and simple but sensual images. The use of color, mark-making and form creates a direct vehicle for my own self-expression. My work is active, packed with energy and suggestive of nature reduced to its essence.

Andrea E. Leland is an artist who resides in Petaluma, California and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Originally from Quebec, Canada, Leland received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. For the past 30 years she has traveled throughout the Caribbean observing, participating in and documenting its culture and natural beauty. Leland relocated to Petaluma and currently enjoys living in Sonoma County where the light, the nearby ocean and the flora and fauna provides a visually stimulating counterpoint. Leland works with oil paint medium, printmaking, mixed media and pastel on paper and canvas.

In addition to painting and drawing, Leland has directed and produced several documentary films about culture and artistic expression in the Caribbean. Her paintings, drawings and documentaries have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are in numerous private collections.