Featured Artists
OCTOBER 2025
Carmen Sprague
Artist's Statement
Fine Art Photographer Carmen Sprague, originally from Lansing, Michigan, worked for General Motors Parts Division as their Editor and Chief Photographer for over 28 years.
In Lansing, I earned a Degree in Applied Science and Photography from Lansing Community College’s Media Institute and Michigan State University. I was a winner of the KINSA - Kodak Award in the black and white portraiture division. I was also chosen for Photographer’s Forum Magazine and featured in their “Best of Photography Annual”, published for college libraries, photography, art instructors and graphic artists for instruction. For many years, I was a featured artist at the “Lansing Art Gallery”.
After being diagnosed with Cancer in 1996, “I felt it was time for a life change and relocated to the Florida Keys”. While there, I owned and operated “Carmen’s Gallery” in Key West and was co-owner of “Artists in Paradise” Big Pine Key.
In Cape Coral, Florida, I am a member of the Cape Coral Art League where I am President and Board Member, Gift Shop Director and Teacher of Digital Photography and Graphics classes. I am also a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral where I am the Director of Photography.
My Fine Art Photography is printed on canvas from original negatives and high rated digital files. I participate in Gallery Shows throughout Florida, and my artwork can also be found on my personal website, Etsy.com/Carmensgallery and at the Cape Coral Art League and at various shows and Galleries in Cape Coral and Ft. Myers Florida…
You can contact me at: Phone 305-766-1376
Email: Carmens321@aol.com
Website: www.Etsy.com/carmensgallery
The Interview
by Dee J. Stevenson
LESLIE McNEIL
Nine years ago (2015) Leslie arrived in Cape Coral intent on finding a comfortable group to connect with. She found it in CCAL.
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Leslie recalls that she has always had an ART-concentration which led her to taking art courses in college. After college she taught school for 10 years then went back to college for a degree in Interior Design in Massachusetts. She now winters in Cape Coral and summers in MA.
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Her art focus has been in working with pastels. She enjoys the latitude the medium allows her. She contributes much of her time in Cape Coral at the CCAL where she enjoys teaching others to use pastels in their art discovery. She very much enjoys attending and participating in the Open Painting sessions on Wednesday afternoons because she finds the people so “welcoming” and “supportive”. She calls it her “happy place”. She also emphasizes that this is a ‘wonderful facility” with a lot of space to do a lot of different things.​
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Negativity is not in her vocabulary. She advises “Shake it off”, “get over it” w/reference to Taylor Swift song title. “Move forward.”​