Leslie Helena Evans was born on a U.S. military base in Japan where she was affectionately called "Chisaii" (Little One) by her nannies. Today - despite standing nearly 6 feet tall - that moniker remains her artistic nom de plume and is how she signs her work.

Leslie is self-taught and has used colored pencil and/or acrylic to create the artwork you see displayed on this website.

Leslie has enjoyed success both here and abroad with media specific international exhibitions sponsored by both the Colored Pencil Society Of America (2011 - Exceptional Merit Award) and its British counterpart the United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society (2007 - Picture of the Year).

She has also done well with open media competition in the wildlife genre, including a People's Choice Award (2010) from the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year competition and an Award Of Excellence (2009) from the highly esteemed Society Of Animal Artists.

Leslie has been a finalist (2007, 2009) in the Animal/Wildlife category of Artist's Magazine's annual competition and has had a winning piece featured on the cover of Florida Wildlife Magazine (2009) which also subsequently received a Charlie Award (2010) from the Florida Magazine Association for Best Illustration.

In online art competitions, the Art Renewal Center has awarded Leslie an Honorable Mention (2010) and a 2nd Place Overall prize (2011) for her Animal Category entries in its prestigious International Salon competition.