My violin arrived in a case - 107V - broken, with only two strings going haywire. Instantly, I was transported to my high school music room and memories of band practice, concerts, trips, awards, and lugging that clarinet back and forth in its numbered case. Then my thoughts fast forward to lifelong friends from that concert band. Music is so important to youth, not just in school but for a lifetime. At first I was intimidated by my violin. I didn't want to sand it, gesso it and paint it; I wanted to restore it! As I sanded it, I discovered, on the inside, a signature near the number 319. Initially, I thought the label on back and inside: "HOPF" was "HOPE". There's hope for it yet.
Leslie Allen produces colorful, intimate landscapes infused with light, which translate feelings and impressions onto the canvas. She is a Signature Member of Women Artists of the West (WAOW), founding member of Plein Air Artists Colorado, and Associate Member of Oil Painters of America. She has received numerous awards including "Best in Show" at the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Miniature Show in 2004. In 2002, she received "Best Impressionistic Painting" by the National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society. Ms. Allen's work was also featured in Wildlife Art magazine (2003). Her work is collected across the US, Canada, South America, England, and Germany. Locally, Ms. Allen's work is displayed at Allen Fine Art Studio, The Art Services Company and the Artwork Network of Denver.
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