Breathe Within Painting

ABOUT PRESS - CLIENTS - OIL PAINTINGS - MIXED MEDIA - STICKY RICE - BLOG SHOP ALL PRINTS & MORE Melissa Leslie is thought provoking Artist, Author, Health Advocate and Entrepreneur. As a persistent brand builder, Leslie is internationally known for her fine art reflecting musical inspirations and deeply symbolic works depicting spiritual thought processes, experiences and revelations. She has dedicated over two decades defining her craft through oil paint, fashion design, graphic design, film, photography and showing all along the west coast in galleries and art events. Born in the Midwest, her childhood was marked early on with racist incidences that would set a course of shaping her thinking about what it is to be a minority, a female and an artist in a small blue collar town set among fields of corn and cows. Before she was to find her unique style of art she would first have to make sense of it all through journaling her experiences on canvas, a safe space to divulge her spiritual milestones. Her escape strategy by way of a school loan was presented to her in 2004 and without question jumped at the opportunity to attend the Academy of Art. Her dream city, San Francisco, became her home for the next couple culturally enthralling yet spiritually bizarre years. Those short yet trying years would forever alter her art career leading to one of her well known pieces, "City of Hendrix" in 2005. In skipping class and pursuing her career, she frequented underground reggae clubs and began showing and doing live art in galleries and clubs. During her time in Orange County in 2007-2009 she began creating works reflecting her love of the ocean and jazz with multimedia pieces that sold almost as soon as she created them. She broke free from the concrete jungle and was beginning to express herself on canvas in a new and unique way. It was there; Laguna Beach, Dana Point and other beach cities, that she would discover her passion for healthy living, recipe development and her life journey to help others reach healing and healthy lifestyles. ​ In 2010 she spent her free time raising up another generation of creative entrepreneurs through her online magazine she started with her husband and fellow artist, Daniel Quinones, MLoveizm Magazine in a 6800 sqft old light building set inSouth Central Los Angeles.