This auction item is for a framed 14" x 16" oil painting, titled "Majestic Tree" by Leah Hopkins Henry.

Atlanta portrait artist Leah Hopkins Henry has been creating art since childhood when she was drawing portraits of friends and family. Her art set her apart from her identical twin, Lynne, who had more musical talent. Leah vividly remembers being asked numerous times to stand next to her sister so people could "see the difference" in them. Since then, Leah has used her keen observation skills to find the subtle nuances that make people "who they are". Her broad audience of satisfied clients praise the special way that she captures the spirit as well as the likeness of her subjects. Leah's life-like and expressive portraits are what she is best known for, but her work also includes vivid award winning landscapes and captivating still lifes.

A graduate of the University of Georgia, Leah also attended the American College of the Applied Arts. She has studied with internationally known artists Yuqi Wang, Daniel Greene, David Leffel, John de la Vega, and Burton Silverman. Henry's paintings can be found in many collections across the country and have been exhibited in countless juried shows, including the Oil Painters of America National Show in Chicago, and has won many awards. She was named 2008 Southern Featured Artist by the Rome Area Council for the Arts and was honored with a solo exhibition, Life Expressions, in February 2008. "Italian Still Life with Fruit", an oil painting of Leah's, graced the cover of the cookbook As Good as Gold. Leah also created a painting memorializing "Warrior's Walk" at Fort Stewart, GA which was presented to the Army Third Infantry Division at a very touching program in June 2008. The Georgia State Capitol, Coca Cola Headquarters, Marietta Cobb Museum, the Veterans Administration Building and City Gallery at Chastain are a few of the venues where Henry's work has been exhibited. Many articles have been written about the artist and her work including a feature story, Contemporary Realism, in the Winter 2009 issue of the Atlanta Style and Design magazine by Charles Penn.

In 2005, Henry co-founded Atlanta Fine Arts League with 5 fellow artists as a catalyst for Art from the Heart, a nationally recognized program in which painters created portraits of Georgia's fallen soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan and donated them to surviving family members. Leah and two founders were featured on an Emmy winning GPTV "State of the Arts" segment about Art from the Heart that aired in January 2008 (see video below). The project has been honored by many businesses and organizations, including Coca Cola and The National Museum of Patriotism, as well as Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and Senator Johnny Isakson.

Leah maintains her studio and residence in Atlanta where she lives with her husband, Mike and their sons Zach and Stokes. She accepts commissions for family and corporate portraits, pet portraits and architecture.