Exhibitions
2020
A Concise History of Watercolor Slide Presentation, Exhibition and Demonstration • Weekend in Norfolk, CT. February 22 – 23
Small Works, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT. February 14 – March 8. Group show, juried
2019
Small Works • The Norfolk Hub, December. Invitational, group show
Holiday Open Studios • Watercolor Demonstrations, Whiting Mills, Winsted, CT. December 7 – 8
Annual Holiday Fair • Watercolor Demonstration, Society of Scribes, NYC. November 24
Floral Watercolor Demonstration • A Norfolk Makerspace, Battell Chapel, CT. September 21
Watercolor Exhibition & Demonstration • Weekend in Norfolk, CT. August 3 – 4
2018
Watercolors & Demonstration • Weekend in Norfolk, CT. August 3 – 5
2017
Through The Garden Gate • National Iron Bank, Norfolk, CT. October 30 – December 30. Invitational, solo show
Frank Mason in Vermont, Artist and Teacher, The Bryan Memorial Gallery, Jeffersonville, VT. July – September. Invitational, group show
Watercolors & Demonstration • Weekend in Norfolk, CT. August 5 – 6
2016
Tulips: Botanical Watercolors • American Society of Botanical Artists, The Attleboro Arts Museum, Wellesley College. August 22 – September 30. Group show, juried
WaterWorks • Small Fish, Lakeville, CT. April 2 – June 30. Solo show
Nurtured by Nature • The Boston Flower Show, The Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, MA, New England Society of Botanical Artists. March 16 – March 20. Members’ show
2015
Decorative Borders and Marginalia, Watercolor Demonstration • The Society of Scribes, Brotherhood Synagogue, NYC. November 1
Botanical Watercolors • The Boston Flower Show, The Seaport World Trade Center, Boston, MA, New England Society of Botanical Artists, March 11 – March 15. Members’ show
The Artists’ Garden: Persephone Returns – Botanicals by Three Connecticut Artists • The Norfolk Library, CT. March 1 – March 31. Invitational, 3 person show
2014
The Art of Plein Air Painting • Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Founders Hall Gallery, Winsted, CT. August 25 – September 25. Invitational, solo show
Let There Be Art! • The Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA. April 11 – 17. Group show, juried.
2013
Leslie Watkins, Watercolor Paintings • The National Iron Bank, summer. Invitational, solo show
2012
Nature Studies, Watercolors and Small Works • The Norfolk Library, CT. December 1 – December 31. Invitational, solo show
Leslie Watkins, Paintings • Infinity Gallery, Norfolk, CT, June 24 – September 27. Solo show
Views of Great Mountain Forest • Yale Forestry Camp, Norfolk, CT. Presented by the Great Mountain Forest Corporation, September 22. Invitational, group show
Celebrating Lyme’s Beauty: Paintings of Clucas Field • Lyme Art Association, Lyme Land Conservation Trust and the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. Invitational, group show
On View: June 1 – 30, Lyman Allyn Art Museum
On View: July 7 – September 3, Lyme Art Association
Norfolk Artists & Friends 4th Annual Exhibition • The Battell Stoeckel Estate Gallery, Norfolk, CT. August 10 -12. Members’ show
It’s a Floral Thing • Norfolk Artisans Guild, Station Place, Norfolk, CT. February 3 – March 31
20th Annual Associate Artist Exhibition • Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT. January 13 – February 25. Group show
Wee Works by Awesome Artists • Miniatures at the Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. December 1 – January 15. Invitational, group show
Deck the Walls! • Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT. November 18, 2011 – January 7. Invitational, group show
2011
Faculty Show • Washington Art Association, Washington Depot, CT October 22 – November 13. Group show
New England Landscape Invitational Exhibition • Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT
September 23 – November 12. Group show
Norfolk Artists & Friends 3rd Annual Exhibition • The Battell Stoeckel Estate Gallery, Norfolk, CT. August 13 -14. Members’ show
Watercolors, Oil Paintings, Painted Furniture • Norfolk Artisans Guild, Station Place, Norfolk, CT. June – August. Invitational
Open Your Eyes Studio Tour 2011 • Dandelion Cottage, Norfolk, CT
Sponsored by the Northwest Connecticut Arts Council. June 25 – 26. Invitational
2010
Botanical Watercolors • Chaiwalla Tea House, Salisbury, CT. Spring 2010. Invitational, solo show
Norfolk Artists & Friends 2nd Annual Exhibition, The Battell Stoeckel Estate Gallery, Norfolk, CT August, 13-15. Members’ show
18th Annual Associate Artist Exhibition • Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT. January 15th – February 27. Members’ show, juried
2009
Deck the Walls • Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT. December 11 – January 9. Members’ show, juried
Annual Exhibit • Housatonic Valley Art League, Noble Horizons, Salisbury, CT. November 13 – January 10. Members’ show
Miniature Show • Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. November – December. Invitational, group show
Small Works Show • Welles Gallery of the Lenox Library, Lenox, MA. October 7 – 31. HVAL members’ show
Views of Great Mountain Forest • Yale Forestry Camp, Norfolk, CT. September 26. Invitational, group show
Art Exhibition • Riverton Wellness Weekend, The Lambert Hitchcock House, Riverton, CT. September 18 – 20. Invitational, group show
Sap Bucket Sellabration • Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. August 28. Auction event, invitational
Norfolk Artists & Friends 1st Annual Exhibition • Battell Stoeckel Estate Gallery, Norfolk, CT. August 14 – 16. Members’ show
Landscapes and Botanicals: A Nature Lover’s Work • The Gallery at Kinderhook Group, Salisbury, CT. May 9 – June 28. Invitational, solo show
2008
Spring Awakening • Joie de Livres, Salisbury, CT. May 10 – June 21. Invitational, group show
2007
Leslie Watkins: Landscapes Oil Paintings • The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. September 1 – October 4. Invitational, solo show
2006
Naked in Norfolk • The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. Invitational, group show
2005
Norfolk Landscapes • The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT. Invitational, group show
2004
Annual Combined Exhibition • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
2003
Annual Thumb-Box Exhibition • The Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
90th Annual Exhibition • The Allied Artists of America, National Arts Club, NYC. Juried
75th Grand National Exhibition • American Artists Professional League, Salmagundi Club, NYC. Juried
Auction Exhibition • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
The Jersey City Studio Tour • Jersey City, NJ. Studios open to the public, live painting demonstrations
61st Annual National Exhibit • Audubon Artists, Salmagundi Club, NYC. Juried
72nd Annual Exhibition • Hudson Valley Art Association, Newington Cropsey Foundation, Hastings on Hudson, NY. Juried
Women Artist Members Exhibition • The Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
Romantic Lighting: The New Luminists • The Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY. Invitational, group show
Spring Auction Exhibition • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Member’s show, juried
23rd Annual Regional Open Juried Show • Ridgewood Art Institute, NJ. Juried
2002
Holiday Thumb Box Exhibition • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
Holiday Show • Art Students League, NYC. Group show
National Small Works Painting Exhibition • Avenue Art Gallery, Edicott, NY. Juried
89th Annual Exhibition • Allied Artists of America, National Arts Club, NYC. Juried
Regional Art Exhibition for Non-Members • Pen & Brush, NYC. Juried
Fall Auction Exhibition • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Members’ show
Jersey City Artists’ Studio Tour • 111 First Street, Jersey City, NJ. Self-guided walking tour
Instructor’s Endowment Fund Show & Sale • Art Students League, NYC. Group show
1996
Following the Light: The Artists and their Teacher • G.C. Lucas Gallery, Indianapolis, IN. Curated by Gregory Lucas. Invitational, group show
Non-Members Show • Salmagundi Club, NYC. Group show, juried
1995
Botanical Watercolors • Nicholas Davies & Co., NYC. Curated by Ned Davies. Invitational, group show
1994
Members’ Exhibition • Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. Members’ show
1993
Self Portraits • Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. Members’ show
Nature Observed • Steinhardt Conservatory, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn, NY. Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Invitational, group show
Landscapes • Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY. Invitational, group show
1992
Adirondack Park Centennial • Monica North Galleries, Pompeii Museum, Saratoga, NY. Invitational, group show
1990-92
American Realists • Art DuMonde traveling exhibition throughout Japan, curated by Matthew Cowan. Invitational, group show
1990
Gunderson & Watkins • Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. 2 person show
Hudson River Multi-Media Show • Mark Gruber Gallery, New Paltz, NY. Invitational, group show
Summer in the City • Ward-Nasse Gallery, NYC. Curated by Leslie Watkins. Invitational, group show
New York Citiscapes • Ward-Nasse Gallery, NYC. Auction event organized by Leslie Watkins
Art Students League Painters • Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. Curated by Leslie Watkins. invitational, group show
1989
Contemporary Hudson River Landscapes • Hudson River Gallery, Ossining, NY. Invitational, group show
16 Artists • Ward-Nasse Gallery, NYC. Group show
Small Works • Ward-Nasse Gallery, NYC. Members’ show
Two Painters, Two Views • The Union League Club, NYC. Curated by Dennis Smith. Invitational, 2 person show
1988
Kerasiotis, Gunderson, Watkins • Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. 3 person show
1986
ASL Group Exhibition • The Union League Club, NYC. Invitational, group show
1983
Vermont Landscapes • The Helen Day Art Center, Stowe, VT. Invitational, group show
Murals
1999 Woodland Bouquet • mural commissioned for a private residence
1994 Bridgehampton • mural commissioned for BLOOM Flower & Garden Design
1993 Hudson Highlands • mural commissioned for a rooftop garden
1991 Kaaterskill Cove • mural commissioned for a private residence
Collections
The Union League Club, permanent collection, NYC
The City of New York, Human Resources Division
Representative Jerrold Nadler, Washington, DC
Private collections in America and abroad
Awards and Honors
Honorable Mention, 2003 Annual Thumb-Box Exhibition • The Salmagundi Club
Gold Award, landscape painting, Circolo Da Vinci, Croton-on-Hudson, NY. 1991
Concours Awards, Art Students League, 1990, ’86, ’82, & ’81
Materials Award, Art Students League, 1985
Working Scholarship Award, Art Students League, 1982-90
BOC Scholarship Award, Art Students League, 1982, 1981
The Ivan Olinsky Memorial Grant Award, Art Students League, 1980, juried
Reviews
Kathryn Boughton, “Leslie Watkins,” Berkshire Style, autumn 2019
Dorothy Pam, “Drawn To Nature: Leslie Watkins Pursues A Life In Art,” Norfolk Now, August 2 2017
Brandon Kralik, ”Painting A Beautiful Life,” Main Street Magazine, March 2015
Kathryn Boughton, “Botanical Art on Display in Norfolk,” Republican American, March 3, 2015
Kathy Regan, “Dandelion Cottage,” Our Berkshire Times, March 30, 2014
Alice Tessier, “Norfolk Plein Air Painter Reaches Out to Form Group,” Litchfield County Times, March 26, 2013
Raymond J. Steiner, “Watkins & Gunderson at Garrison,” Art Times, December 1990
Mary McAllister McCarthy, “Some Art Fresh from the Street Finds an Enthusiastic Audience,” The Villager, July 26, 1990
Will Grant, “Exhibits by Communities of Artists,” Artspeak, September 16, 1989
Gail Ryan, “Stowe is Home to Summer Art School,” The Reporter, Stowe, VT. June 15, 1989
Dennis Smith, “Two Painters, Two Views,” brochure accompanying exhibition, The Union League, January 1989
Bibliography
Susan Bachelder, “A Spa Day with Art,” HVAL Newsletter, 2019
Mickey Myers, “Frank Mason in Vermont, Artist and Teacher,” American Art Review, August 2017
Connecticut Horticultural Society, “Leslie Watkins Exhibits Art,” CHS Newsletter, March 2015
“NWCAC Garden Party,” The Register Citizen, July 9, 2014
Lawrence Davis-Hollander, “Plein Air Painting,” The Register Citizen, April 2014
Raymond J. Steiner, “Leslie Watkins,” Profile, Art Times, January/February 1997
Sarah Shaw, “Style Beat,” House Beautiful, March 1995
Marjory Sovaa, “The Flowers that Bloom in Window Boxes, Tra-la!,” The Villager, June 1,1994
Leslie T. Sharpe, “Did You See?,” The Urban Audubon, October 1992
Professional Affiliations and Education, past and present
American Society of Botanical Artists, member
New England Society of Botanical Artists, member
New England Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, member
Allied Artists of America, associate member
Audubon Artists, associate member
The American Artists Professional League, member
The American Society of Portrait Artists, member
The New York Society of Portrait Artists, member
The Salmagundi Club, member
New York State Plein Air Painters, signature member
The Society of Tempera Painters, member
The Art Students League, life member. Studied with Frank Mason, Gustav Rehberger, Robert Philipp, and Robert Beverly Hale
Garrison Art Center, instructor, member
IWWG, workshop director, member
Ward-Nasse Gallery, vice-president, member
Instruction & Demonstrations
Private classes, CT 1996 – present
Whiting Mills, CT 2019 – present
The Norfolk Hub, CT 2018 – present
Society of Scribes, SVA, NYC, 2016 – present
Scoville Memorial Library, CT 2016 – present
Bartholomew’s Cobble, MA 2017
Wethersfield Academy for the Arts, CT 2016
Nobel Horizons, CT 2014
Washington Art Association, CT 2011
Lyme Art Association, CT 2010
HVAL Workshops, MA 2010
Berkshire Botanical Gardens, MA 2009
Art League of Nassau County, NY 1997
Skidmore College/IWWG Conference, NY 1993 -1995
Garrison Art Center, NY 1992-1995
Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Association, NYC 1992
Writing
Leslie Watkins, “Through The Garden Gate,” monthly column with illustration, 2015 – present
Leslie Watkins, “Prismatic Palette,” Art Times, May/June 2012
Design and Illustration
• Illustrations for a 16 page booklet for Disney’s Animal Kingdom
• Illustrations for children’s books:
“The Penguins’ Big Day,” Houghton Mifflin
“Las Llamas,” Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley
“Zumi y Celina,” Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley
“Los Pequeños Amiguitos,” Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley
• Decorative and wildlife designs and co-ordinates for home textiles
• Art direction & project management, Design 5 Creatives, Oxford University Press
• Book design for Prentice Hall, McGraw Hill, Addison Wesley, & Harcourt Brace publishers
• 350 digital illustrations for an adult literacy education program on CD rom
• Book illustrations for Rodale Press, “Perennial Garden Combinations”
• 50 illustrations for “Sea Creatures” for Golden Books
• Original designs decorating many products, including invitations, notecard borders, greeting cards, gift boxes, labels, picture frames, coasters, and placemats
• Illustrations have appeared on book covers and have been published in major magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Kitchen Gardener, and The Gardener
• Commemorative postage stamps for the governments of Lesotho, Uganda and The Maldives including figurative, wildlife, and botanical subjects
• Schmid Company commissioned a line of three dimensional gift product designs (vases, teapot, figurines, cachepot, candlesticks, etc.) based on characters from Beatrix Potter’s books
• Several books of designs have been published by Dover, including Leslie Watkins’ “Make Your Own Floral Gift Boxes,” “Large Floral Gift Labels,” and others
• A commemorative poster for The Villager won first prize for best promotional piece in the New York Associated Press Awards
• Concept, design, illustration, and production for BLOOM, Flower & Garden Design Newsletter
Clients
Walt Disney Co., Tiffany & Co., H. George Caspari, B. Shackman & Co., Addison Wesley-Scott Foresman, Harcourt Brace, Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Options, Oxford University Press, Prentice Hall, Rodale Press, Scholastic, Lyons & Burford Publishers, Golden Books, Dover, Book-of-the-Month, NTC Contemporary Publishing, Nick Jr. Magazine, The Gardner, Horticulture Magazine, Fine Gardening Magazine, Kitchen Gardener, The New York Times, USA Weekend, The Villager, The New York City Audubon Society, Lord & Taylor, Royal Table, Royal York, The Gorden Fraser Gallery, Schmid, BLOOM Flower & Garden Design, Balcony Beautiful, Ltd., Twinc, BB & K Design Studio, Creatives, Design 5 Creatives, MKR Design, and Springs Industries
Leslie Watkins, PO Box 584, Norfolk, CT 06058