Leslie Peck

Leslie Anne Peck is a native of Buffalo, New York. She moved to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art. In 1987 Leslie spent a year studying art in Italy at the Scuola di Lorenzo De Medici in Florence and subsequently apprenticed in Rome with renowned illustrator Alessandro Biffignandi. Leslie began a freelance career in romance book cover illustration in 1988. She has enjoyed two decades of success painting in that genre. While still enjoying a tremendous success in the publishing field, Leslie’s love for portraiture of people and animals has found its expression in her most recent oil paintings.

Peck has been commissioned by several publishers, including Random House, Penguin Putnam, Avon Books, New American Library and Pinnacle Publishing. Her paintings are also represented globally for second rights printings. Leslie has painted portraits for the Commercial Bank of Long Island, Jefferson’s Ferry Life Care Co. and the Mologne House of Washington DC as well as many private clients.

Peck has further expanded her repertoire with an intense love and study of farm animals and their environment. Using her extensive background in portrait painting, Peck is able to create classic, yet bold portraits of these beautiful animals which are packed with a stately ambiance. Utilizing strong contrasts in light and shadow, the results are figures that jump off the canvas.

Leslie Peck resides in Greenwich, NY with her husband and three children.

Artist Statement

Painting farm animals and still lifes of the products of her own region is a passion for Peck. She brings out the subtle beauty and simplicity of their nature.

“Finding and elevating the beauty in simple objects is my goal. I look for an eloquence in our everyday produce whether it be vegetables, fruit or eggs and pair them with nearly equally perfect manmade objects of beauty. The marriage of the two in design and color should not only be organic but harmonious and soothing to the viewer. The great philosopher and poet Rumi put it well when he wrote ‘Every object, every being, is a jar full of delight.’ It is just for us to reveal and discover this.”