Growing up on Lake Erie in the 70’s and 80’s, sailing was a critical part of my life. Presque Isle State Park was the backdrop for my most life shaping experiences. The 14 miles of coastline provided great conditions to mess about in boats. From day sailing on home made boats, to crewing on tall ships including the Brig Niagara, I’ve had the opportunity to sail on a number of fantastic boats, several of which have inspired my work.

I consider myself more of a fabricator than a true sculptor or painter.  My work is heavily inspired by abstract minimalists like Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Mangold, Steven Dobbin and Robert Sibbison.  I had the privilege of working with Dobbin and Sibbison while at the Artist Gallery in Frederick, MD.  My current body of work is the convergence of two substantial influences; abstract minimalism and sailing.

Well then there is the “Political Wing” of my headspace. I have always been a bit of a political junkie but have never been interested in running for office. I prefer just to rant. Now I rant a lot more than ever. I was a registered Republican from the day I registered at age 18 until the 2000 Gore vs Bush fiasco. I voted Gore and started to question Republican party goals. If you weren’t going to take bold action with in light of a clear problem, I wasn’t interested in wasting my time. When Sarah Palin was nominated to run with John McCain, I left the party and registered as in Independent. I am registered as an Independent now. I mostly identify as angry and frustrated.

On signatures and stamps. After working in Tokyo, Yokohama and Fujisawa Japan for almost 5 years in the early 90’s. I took to using a stamp instead of a signature on my work. All the work that I have sold since then has been stamped instead of signed. I often use a Kanji stamp that I adopted for my last name Leonardi, as Shi-Shi the mythical kabuki lion. I use that stamp when it fits the work. My new stamp reads as CLEO in the shape of a cat’s paw.