Born and raised in Shawville, Leah Beardsley, a mother and artist, retired from the corporate world of sales and marketing to pursue a passion that was set in motion during a quiet day on her grandmother’s cottage porch. On that day in 2019, her niece Bailey Beardsley inspired her to pick up a pencil and rekindle her love for drawing. Leah, who took art in high school, found that she was good at it but never felt like it was in her “spectrum of career choices.”

That night at the cottage, without thinking, she picked up the pencil and her hands did the rest.

“I found there was a peace about it. It just flowed so naturally. And I didn’t realize I had it in me, I forgot,” said Beardsley.

The first portrait Beardsley did was of a cow. It was submitted and won first place at the Shawville Fair. Putting her work out there helped her gain the confidence to create prints and realize this could be a new chapter for her, “I think I might keep on doing this,” said Beardsley.

In 2020, when the world stopped, for Beardsley it was the perfect setting to take up this new hobby; she found it “therapeutic.” It was also the year her grandmother passed away and she used art as an outlet. “I’m finding it’s helped me with the [grieving] process.”

One of the first portraits was of Steve McCurry’s Iconic 1985 National Geographic cover photo titled “Afghan Girl”, which she found in the attic and used for reference. After several hours, Beardsley said she looked down at what she had drawn and thought, “I can’t believe I did that.”

As she sits down to draw, Beardsley told THE EQUITY that it just flows out of her and she feels like she doesn’t know what she’s doing until she steps back and looks at the paper, at what she had drawn. She describes it as a gift from God, she said “I believe that He [God] gives gifts. I believe it was a gift for the season of life that I still am in.”

One of the most pivotal moments for her was when she sent one of her portraits to The Queen and received a thank you letter. Like many, Beardsley loved keeping up with the Royals, watching the weddings, and hearing about them from her grandmother was one of her favourite things to do.

On April 9, 2021, when she heard about the passing of The Queen’s husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who died at the age of 99, she did what she knew how to do best. The death saddened her, so to cope she drew a portrait of the prince a week after his passing. She thought that like most of her other portraits, it would just end up on her wall, but when her husband Mark Chamberlain saw it he said, “you have to send that to The Queen.” Not sure where to start, she took to Google and found an address for Buckingham Palace and mailed it without ever expecting a response because The Queen gets hundreds of fan letters a day.

Months go by; in mid-July she got an envelope with the Royal mail stamp on it. For a moment Beardsley thought it was junk mail.

The letter read:

“The Queen wishes me to write, and thank you very much for your kind message of sympathy on the death of Her Majesty’s beloved husband The Duke of Edinburgh and for your gift of a copy of a pencil portrait you have created. The Queen has been deeply touched by the messages she has received from all around the world and is most grateful for your thoughtful gesture.

Her Majesty was also sorry to hear that your grandmother, Mrs. Jean Beardsley, has recently died and The Queen sends you her sincere sympathy.

I am to thank you for the warm sentiments you expressed and, once again, for writing at this time.”

It was signed off by her Lady-in-Waiting, who is The Queen’s right-hand woman. The letter was dated July 7, 2021.

“It’s surreal. Like I don’t believe it’s true,” said Beardsley. She said it felt special to be recognized by The Queen, and it was especially sentimental because she got to tell The Queen how much her grandmother loved The Royal family which meant a lot to her.

She knew how much her grandmother loved The Queen and losing her during the pandemic was not easy for Beardsley. The Queen’s condolences for her grandmother was a very special moment for Beardsley.

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