Leslie Stoner grew up in Northwest Montana on a farm tucked deep in the woods of the
Rocky Mountains and currently resides on an island in the Pacific Northwest.  Her
imagery is a reflection of both environments; and her ongoing engagement as an
abstract artist with what lies beneath and what floats above, with an emphasis on where
the two meet. She enjoys blurring the concept of “perceived” imagery, purposefully
creating shapes which totter between various forms; leaf, wing, petal, butterfly, flower,
wave, wind, stream, tide, cloud to name a few.
Scanning the rhythmic grain on a birch panel her eyes take in all the organic forms that
nature has created. Leslie must choose which to highlight to become a more prevalent
part of the overall composition. She then places her own representation of a journey
over the top of this beautiful grainy surface. Then her favorite part begins, drawing line
after line after line that twist and curve along the edge of a slowly growing maze,
spreading over the surface like a thin black veil. This process is a slow and steady one
which forces her mind to slow down and create through a calm meditative state. Look
closer and you will find the title hidden inside at the beginning and end of this journey.