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The young artist
Leone’s father died at the premature age of 26, after collapsing on Table Mountain , while out hiking with some friends. Her mother, left Cape Town for Johannesburg, pregnant with a third child and with 2 little girls aged 3 and 4 years, in tow.
Leone and her two sisters were raised in Pretoria, South Africa with the love and support of grand parents, her aunts and uncles.
Leone’s mother worked in the bank, and even though money was short, Leone boasted a well kept secret collection of art materials with which she regularly provided gifts, card-drawings and even small sculptures.
When Leone was 8 years of age, her mother remarried a geological surveyor. The family left their tiny 2 bedroom flat and moved into a beautiful new home in the Pretoria country side. Each of the little girls were delighted in having their very own bedrooms. Her stepfather, now boasted a entourage of 7 beautiful girls.
Since Leone was always busy making something for someone, her stepfather encouraged her to continue, he even summoned up family and friends to pay for their commission, thus keeping her in art supplies.
Before long, Leone had little piles of money lying around in her studio-bedroom. It did not take much to realize that her art was lucrative, so her father began to invest her income and taught Leone what he could about marketing herself.
Foundation of her life:
Leone’s love for drawing, sculpture and painting led her to graduate from the Pretoria School of Art, Music and Ballet, in 1981 with an university exemption and best achievement in graphic art. Leone was nominated by the principal of the art school and was commissioned for a bust, of the principal for the school.
Very sure of her dreams and fresh out of school- Leone was one of 3, of 102 students who passed an examination of aptitude for the only 3 available architectural post in the governments services, namely Community Development.
Leone’s family was large and her father had a mammoth task of providing for the needs and education of 7 girls, his wife and himself. The family also had a nanny by the name of Johanna, so that concluded a full household of 10 mouths to feed.
Leone knew that if she wanted to achieve her dream, she would have to carefully plan her own future and pay for all her own studies. So when the opportunity came to go to...
Cape Town
to continue her studies in Architecture and to assist in the establishment of a CAD Architectural Drawing Office in Parliament Towers, Cape Town. She jumped at the chance. Here she graduated with a National Diploma in Architecture.
Although Leone favored architectural presentations and the design process of office, sport and community centers, she also enjoyed teaching the student draughtsmen and -ladies.
Due to her ever flowing creativity, knowledge and flexibility in her artistic skills, Leone was often loaned out to numerous sections in other departments within the government.
Over and above her artistic skills Leone was also given projects for town planning, photography for magazine as well as trade fair shows, as a portrait artist for the press, paste up artist and cartoonist for 5 in-house tabloids at -the Parliaments Media Services.
Photo: Government portrait for the Upington Airport in South Africa - Sir. General Pierre van Rijneveld.
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