about.

Leanna Dayle (who previously signed as Leanna Taylor) is a self-taught portrait artist based in central Virginia. Raised in Oregon, she completed her undergrad at Portland State University before moving overseas. After volunteering for a year in southeast Africa and teaching English for a year in South Korea, she moved to Virginia in 2020 and currently works as a custom framer.

Her artistic journey began in 2017 during her yearlong service trip to southeast Africa. Limited internet access and dependency on solar power created the need for a more traditional means of entertainment, and she began experimenting with the assorted paint and drawing supplies she had on hand. After initial practice drawing African wildlife she saw in nature magazines, she transitioned to drawing her friends and neighbors. She has a great love for drawing eyes and the reflections they cast, for wrinkles and facial detail, and for the brightly colored headwraps that the women she met in Mozambique would wear.

More recently, her artistic inclination has migrated to winged wildlife. This new fascination has led to a mixed collection of fearsome black-and-white raptors, and sweet, colorful songbirds.

Leanna is a studio artist at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. Located in Studio 1, you’ll find a number of her original artworks on display there in addition to prints and other merchandise. She has also displayed work in a number of galleries and shows in Virginia and beyond, winning several awards along the way.

When she’s not drawing or framing, Leanna enjoys life ‘out in the sticks’ with her two dogs, Ozzie and Finn. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and shares her stitchery work on Instagram at @leannamakesstuff.

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