HENRY Leshner was born and raised in Philadelphia. He fell in love with making art as a child, first inspired by his big box of Crayloa® crayons. After graduating high school, he headed out to San Francisco to hang out with friends and fellow Deadheads, and found that he was soon eligible to attend San Francisco College of Art tuition free. He returned to Philly to work for a graphic design firm specializing in “supergraphics” and later turned to a career in the lighting industry. Now retired, Henry has returned to making art, working primarily with oil and soft pastels, and pastel pencil. His influences include Monet, Degas, Pissarro, and Van Gogh, and Henry will tell you he’s “wired for details”, so he’s begun exploring the palate knife which helps break from detailed representation and move more towards the abstract.
