A practicing painter for over 20 years, Emily Leonard is known for sublime representations of landscapes and wildlife. Developed through a process of layering transparent glazes, gestural lines and emotive brushwork, her recent paintings transform botanical studies into meditative aesthetic experiences. Each layer plays a role in distilling the literal representation of her subject. Dense moments of movement and lavish intricacies hover delicately between abstraction and representation. Sweeping pastel hues generate a delicate balance of light and dark, transparency and opacity – unraveling rhythm and visceral essence of the plant. Leonard is inspired by the astonishing beauty and perpetual tenacity of flowers, returning year after year for a brief and vulnerable yet ecologically crucial lifespan.

Emily Leonard is a Nashville native. She received her BFA from Furman University. Leonard has been published in magazines and catalogues including Garden and Gun, Southern Living and Studio Visit by Open Studios Press. She has participated in exhibitions across the United States and in residency programs at the Alfred and Tratford Klots Foundation in Brittany, France and the Jentel Foundation in Banner, WY. Her paintings are included in numerous private and public collections around the world, including those of the Tennessee State Museum, the Nashville Courthouse, Swedish Hospital in Seattle, and UBS, Nashville.