Welcome to JL Artworks, the online gallery of the oil paintings of Joe Lesinski.  Here you will find images of many of my paintings from 1993 to the present day, along with some background information on the subjects, primarily wildlife, and especially, my favorite subject to paint, eagles and other birds of prey.  Feel free to look around and enjoy my work.  All images contained within this site are copyright 1993 - 2009 Joe Lesinski and may not be used without permission.

raptor_painter@yahoo.com

(Artist's photo taken August 2008).  I have enjoyed art as a hobby for most of my life, taking after both my father and his father.  I started out drawing my own comics in grade and high school.  In 1991, I  became extremely fascinated by eagles.  I developed a deep connection to this awe-inspiring bird, began to save every eagle picture I could find, and drew eagles all the time.  (1991 must have been the "year of the eagle", because there seemed to be eagle pictures everywhere, from cigarette ads to billboards).  I did well in my studio art courses in my junior and senior years at St. Francis High School, where I earned letters for my artwork and was ultimately inducted into PAVAS (the Performing and Visual Arts Society).  Directly after high school, I began taking private lessons in oil painting from locally renowned oil painter Maryann Doering every Thursday morning.  I jumped right into painting birds, and from 1993-1996, painted mostly eagles, parrots, some local songbirds, and aquatic birds.  From the years of 1996-2001, I volunteered at Foxwood Wildlife Rescue, a local wildlife rehabilitation group, who specializes in foxes.  I became good friends with the founder, Elise Able, who reopened a childhood fascination I had with foxes, and taught me a great deal about them.  In being allowed to work so closely with them, I took many photographs, and from 1996-2001, foxes were a favorite subject of mine to paint.  My interests weren't limited to birds and foxes, however, and I also painted other subjects, although mostly animals.  

June 2009 -  I'm currently taking a temporary diversion from birds of prey paintings and working on a series of new fox paintings, my first in 8 years!  I was recently inspired by a lot of other great fox/wolf/canine artwork I saw online, and decided it was time to do some fox paintings again after all these years.  My good friend Elise Able, who runs Foxwood Wildlife Rescue, was kind enough to allow me usage of her fox photos as reference photos for my paintings, so big thanks to her!  I'm also very interested to see how my fox paintings turn out now, after all the years I've had of (hopefully) artistic growth.  This is all very exciting to me, and I'm looking forward to this!  At this point, I'm planning to do anywhere from 4 - 6 fox paintings.  Anyway, the first of these, titled "Red Fox - Sitting in the Sun" is now finished!  It's a 24" x 30", and an image of it can be seen in the newly opened "More Foxes" page!

I will not be attending the Hamburg Festival of the Arts this year.  It was a difficult decision, especially since I've shown there the past 3 years and it was fun, but they raised the entry fee from $40 to $50!  I just can't justify spending that kind of money for a show, especially since I attend mainly to show my work, and not so much to sell.  Instead, for the first time, I'll be attending the Evans art show (which is the same day, July 12, 2009), whose entry fee is only $35, and no pre-registration is required.  My father and I always show together, and he wanted to do Evans this year, anyway, so it works out for both of us.

That's all for now! :)  

www.a-portrait-place.com - Link to my father's website.  He specializes in portraits in oil, charcoal, and pastel.  He also does photography, and has created some very unique fairy pictures.

I wouldn't have reached the point I have without the help of certain people in my life.  Therefore, I would like to thank my parents and family for their support, Maryann, my oil painting teacher and mentor since 1993, who has really helped me to grow as an artist, the Thursday morning oil painting group for your encouragement, and Elise (www.foxwoodrehab.com) for letting me work so closely with all of her animals and teaching me a great deal about foxes.  Also special thanks to Hawk Creek Wildlife Center in East Aurora, NY (www.hawkcreek.org) for all that they do to help injured birds of prey and other animals, and for allowing the general public the chance to see these magnificent birds up close, helping to ensure these beautiful creatures are around for generations to come!  I highly recommend anyone in the area to attend their annual Wildlife and Renaissance Festival, held every year in July.

"Follow Your Bliss". - Joseph Campbell

© 1993 - 2009 Joseph J. Lesinski.   All Rights Reserved.