About Jessica Leonard

Jessica Leonard is a Contemporary Realist oil painter who enjoys creating complex and highly realistic paintings. Growing up in the Saratoga Area, horse racing has always held an exciting part of Jessica’s summer heart. As she is evolving as an Artist she finds herself drawn to the strength and sprit of “The Sport of Kings”. Beyond that she is moved on a daily basis by the beauty of the things we are surrounded by: The sun shining through the windows catching the flecks of dust on the air; the beautiful juxtaposition of a dark foreboding sky against the dull late November leaves; the way her daughters’ hair falls like auburn silk across their rosy little cheeks. Much like how she notices the small beauties in everyday life, she strives to catch the small beauties in the paintings she creates. Many clients have said her work has captured a subject’s spirit just right. Maybe it’s because the spirit is represented as much by the tiniest detail in the eye as it is in the picture as a whole. Together all of those small moments in an image bring to life what our heart’s eye sees, but the camera neglects.

Jessica works with a limited pallet and has become adept at matching and mixing her colors using solely white and the primary colors of red, blue, and yellow. Taking out the numerous color variants on the market has been freeing and has given her a deep understanding of color theory that has become second nature to her.

Leonard graduated in 2003 with a BA in Fine Art from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. She was selected as the Signature Artist three years running at Saratoga Springs Charity Gala “An Unbridled Affair”. Her painting “Horse Behind the Legend” was featured in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a spotlight artist in 2016.  Leonard is a member of the prestigious Oil Painters of America and the International Guild of Realism.  Her work resides in the private collections of some well-known members of the racing community.