artist statement
In a world that can often feel chaotic, challenging, and dark, I strive to seek, create, and perpetuate light and beauty. I do not do this to ignore the issues of our time, but rather to provide some reprieve, or solace. I want to create something that brings someone a moment of joy or a feeling of calm. When I spend time in nature, I feel better. I feel free, I sense beauty, I breathe in the quiet. Therefore, nature itself is almost always my muse.
artist bio
b. 1984
Van Fossan was born in Vail, Colorado, and began oil painting at the age of 12. She went on to study Fine Art at the University of Colorado in Boulder, and at the Syracuse University Center in Florence, Italy.
After school, Van Fossan stepped away from her craft for nearly a decade, to explore the business side of art and to build her family with husband, internationally-acclaimed painter, James Van Fossan. It was with his persistent encouragement that Leigh Ann finally decided to revisit
painting in 2014.
The hiatus served her well. Van Fossan was featured as a cover artist with Art Voices Magazine for the Fall 2014 Issue. She was also presented at the prestigious SPECTRUM MIAMI event in 2016 with the Artbox Gallery of Switzerland.
Her work is now collected around the globe.
In 2022, Van Fossan began illustrating children's books. She is the illustrator for Gloria Bee's Big Picture Day, written by Lin Hawthorne. Van Fossan is also the author/illustrator of children's book, STUBBORN SAWYER (2024).
In 2018, Van Fossan published her first novel, a work of Women's Fiction, Painting Blue Water.