about.

Leanna Dayle is a self-taught portrait artist and custom framer based in Colorado. Raised in Oregon, she completed her undergrad in Geography at Portland State University before moving overseas. After two years abroad, she moved to Virginia and spent 5 years working in a custom frame shop. In 2026 she moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado to purchase her own business, Framing Expressions.

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 transitioned to drawing her friends and neighbors. She has a great love of drawing eyes, wrinkles and facial detail, and 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 former studio artist at LibertyTown Arts Workshop in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She has also displayed work in a number of galleries and shows in Virginia and beyond, winning several awards along the way. Currently you can find her work on the walls of Framing Expressions.

When she’s not drawing or framing, Leanna enjoys spending time outdoors with her two dogs, Ozzie and Finn, finding a new restaurant to try out, birdwatching at the park, or unwinding with a new Netflix show. She is an avid cross-stitcher, and shares her needlework on Instagram at @leannamakesstuff.

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