Renee Leopardi

Renee Leopardi was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio and after 12 years of Catholic school, she decided to immediately join the work force. Within a year after high school, she decided it would be best to continue her education and worked her way through night school to achieve an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Cincinnati. During those years, she met many wonderful people, one of which is her husband, who grew up in southern New Jersey. In 2002, she relocated to New Jersey to start a family and has never looked back. From early childhood, Renee has always been interested in art. However, art was never pushed or nurtured as a possible career path, so art became hobby for years. In 2008, she took an Advanced Painting workshop at Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia. From then on, she knew her focus had to change. Since that first workshop, she has continued to further her art education through workshops and independent study including Life Drawing and plein air painting sessions with fellow local artists. Her newest works are primarily pastel paintings. Through her studies, she realized that painting with pastels has pushed her to explore and create more than she thought she could. Working with pastels can be quick and expressive in a way she wasn’t finding before. Working with pastels has also altered her overall painting style by giving it a turn toward impressionism. She finds inspiration in the local seasonal landscapes of southern New Jersey; from the ocean and marshes to creeks and woods to farmland. When the weather isn’t so friendly, she and her painting friends move indoors to work on still life or the figure. Workshops / Portfolio Programs Attended: Showcase the Color of Light, Sally Strand, IAPS, June 2019 The Painterly Portrait, Alain Picard, Crow Creek School of Art, November 2017 The Poe