House Portraits in Rotorua, New Zealand

Rotorua, New Zealand, December 03, 2009 --(PR.com)-- A quick stop over in Rotorua to see family turned into a house portrait and landscape painting spree for New Zealand artist Leisa Collins. “I recently toured 11,000 km across America on a painting tour and in just the last several weeks have been all over the north and south islands of New Zealand. I've been in Auckland, Rotorua, Gisborne, Christchurch, Mt Cook and many other communities and I must say that Rotorua has the most beautiful lake side homes I have ever seen!” said Leisa. “So beautiful, in fact, that I decided to selectively distribute promotional flyers to the letterboxes of those homes and the response has been excellent.”

Collins has since completed a pen and watercolor wash house portrait of a Lake Okareka property on Acacia Road and is now working on other commissioned works.

Last week she was at Mt Cook as part of a tour on which she is retracing the footsteps of her journey through the South Island 30 years ago. At that time she abandoned formal art training and the confines of the classroom in Auckland, opting to learn her craft by capturing on canvas the beauty of the New Zealand landscape. She celebrated her return to Mt Cook by giving an impromptu watercolor lesson to the pupils of the Aoraki Mt Cook School.

Leisa recently took up her paintbrush and returned to a full-time art career after two decades of social activism that took her to the four corners of the globe and gave her a firsthand view of many diverse cultures and shocking social inequities. She now divides her time between New Zealand and the USA. She is creating her latest New Zealand series of paintings while at the same time fulfilling commissioned landscapes, child portraits and home portraits. “The first personalized paintings I did all those years ago were pen and watercolor house portraits of New Zealand homes, and they are still my favorite. There is nothing I love more than presenting a memorable portrait to a property owner who takes great pride in the personality of their home,” said Leisa. “I also especially like painting historic homes and buildings.”

Leisa is now combining her activist and artistic skills under the motto of Art with a Message. Her website stresses the importance of the artist bringing about social change and her Art in Action page includes her social activities. Her website also includes an online gallery featuring semi-abstract as well as realistic landscape and portrait works. She regularly posts on her Art with a Message blog and keeps her friends and clients updated through her newsletter, Art in the Making.

“Art is a powerful means of communication and is therefore a potent weapon to bring about change,” says Leisa. “Art for me is something that goes far beyond the walls of the studio.”

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Contact Information:

Email: leisa@leisacollins.com
Phone: 0272833933
Website: http://www.leisacollins.com
Blog: http://www.leisacollinsartwithamessage.blogspot.com
Home Portraits: http://www.leisacollins.com/house_portrait.html
Contact
Leisa Collins Art - House Portraits & Landscape Paintings
Leisa Collins
517-763-8453
www.leisacollins.com
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