~ Artist Statement--> Leroy Campbell, As a self-taught artist, I am committed to creating colorful paintings of positive family images. I paint pictures of family life to help me strive to have the life of the family in the paintings I create. The families in my paintings are peaceful, close-knit, harmonious, and spiritual people. They gather around all types of celebrations. You see the young and the old interacting, sharing culture, and history. Families in my paintings are rich in love, affection, and sensitivity.

They are God fearing, strong and determined people. I try to create the family that I want from my paintings. I have heard that if you want anything your must claim it. In my case, I paint it. I know that my work will resonate into the hearts and souls of other people and remind them of the significance of their own family structure.

I want to make my work significant and real to all who experience it. Because of this, I choose a mixed media of pastels, charcoal, acrylics, and fabrics to help bring my paintings to life. The characters in my paintings are richly melinated, silhouetted figures with elongated necks. They have no eyes, or noses only mouths. All of these qualities have become my trademark. This allows the viewer to see his own faces and possibly the faces of people with whom he (she) loves, touches, or shares laughter. My torn edges help the viewer to look into the dimension of the work and feel the warmth and the richness of the family environment.

God has chosen to five me this gift as my purpose in life. When God blesses you with a gift, he wants you to use it as a guiding light for yourself as well as for others. My artwork has a universal appeal. Wherever there are families on the Earth, I trust that my images will resonate into their hearts and soul, and remind them of the significance of family togetherness, love and affection that they share with each other.

I was born with an imperfect hand, a birth defect some would say. I view this as one of God's perfect blessings that add to the uniqueness of my artwork. I have hands that reach out and touch the sensitivity of other hands. I am thankful that I have submitted to the focus of God's hands through my own.