Greetings…
My name is Liesl and yes, I am named after the oldest daughter in the Sound of Music. I have been drawing since I was a child, often while sitting in church to keep myself from fidgeting when my dad was preaching. Being a Methodist Preacher’s Kid meant we moved frequently, so I used my artistic talent as a bridge to meet new people at each new location. Many different locations and schools also meant I had the opportunity to learn from a variety of art instructors that pushed me to become a better artist. I attended Western Michigan University where I earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Art Education, with a focus on drawing and painting. I taught K-12 art in Michigan before moving to Illinois, where I switched it up a bit and taught art to seniors at a retirement home. It was wonderful to engage with them and hear their stories.
I took a break from teaching in the late ‘90’s to focus on raising a family (bringing up two boys takes a lot of time and energy), but jumped right back in as an “Art Smart” coordinator at my children’s school, and continue to teach art privately. While I never stopped creating and appreciating art in many forms (weaving, sculpture, felting, set design, etc.), I returned to drawing in earnest after volunteering at the local art league. Exhibiting in monthly shows pushed me creatively and it was at that time I started getting requests to draw portraits for friends and family. To date, I have created hundreds of portraits and drawings as commissioned and personal pieces.
I gravitate toward pencil, graphite or color, because I like to incorporate a lot of details. Similar to an author building a character in a novel, I like to build up my drawings with details. I have always been particularly interested in sketching animals, wild and domestic, but now that I have experienced the wonder of watching my children grow, I find the human face equally fascinating. As any artist will tell you, it is the eyes of the subject(s) that can make or break a portrait. I spend a lot of time capturing the emotion of the eyes in order to express the feeling in the drawing. Every subject (person, place or thing) has a story and I like to try to capture that in my drawings. My artwork reflects moments in time, little snapshots of memories that we try to hold on to. Life can be so full of noise and static, it is nice to stop for a moment and breathe.
Currently, I divide my time between my family’s Christmas Tree Farm in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, and my home in the Western Suburbs of Chicago that I share with my husband, two sons and two rescued dogs.