Hey there! I’m Lelani Marie, an artist!

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Hey there! I’m Lelani Marie, an artist! *

I’m an acrylic and watercolor artist who specializes in animal portraits!

A young woman with shoulder-length wavy dark hair smiling at the camera, wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt, with a blurred background of a wooden-paneled room and colorful artwork.

I’m Lelani, a small acrylic and watercolor artist based in the Midwest. I love reading, writing and spending my time with my cats, Kilala and Dinah.

I’ve just started my journey to become a full time artist and would love it if you joined me!

about me

A long-haired tabby cat sitting on a patterned rug.
A woman with dark hair and glasses lying on a couch with a Siamese cat nearby on the same couch.

how it began

I fell in love with art as soon as I stepped into my middle school art class. The colors of the different artworks displayed, the smell of paint in the air, the excitement of getting to learn about a subject I didn’t know was calling to me. I knew from that moment that I wanted to be an artist.

Throughout my schooling, I took every drawing and painting class I could, learning the fundamentals and fascinated by other artists. In college I was able to explore more art mediums like printmaking and sculpture, and in 2022 I got my Bachelor’s degree in Art.

Degree certificate from the University of Iowa awarded to Lelani Marie Tomanogi for a Bachelor of Arts in Art, signed by university officials.
A statue of a woman dressed in traditional Japanese attire holding a pink flower, surrounded by a fan with Chinese characters and pink flowers, a decorative vase with a pink flower, and colorful textiles.
Two women are sword fighting in a mountainous landscape under a moonlit night, with airplanes flying in the sky.
A green frog sitting on a red mushroom with white spots in a forest, surrounded by smaller mushrooms and trees.
A colorful abstract painting of a fox with blue eyes, with vibrant splashes of pink, orange, yellow, and blue, featuring a butterfly and geometric patterns surrounding the fox.

My dream is to run my own shop selling prints and be able to make a living doing what I love.

Right now, I work a full time job and can only work on building my art biz in my downtime (baby steps!).

I would love to make more content, teach others some of the skills I know and let my art find it’s place in people’s homes.

Future Goals

Watercolor painting of a forest scene with two red mushrooms with white spots, a snail with an orange shell, and a background of green trees.
A surreal painting featuring a large black crow and a raven set against a cosmic background with swirling purple, blue, and gold colors. The scene includes a flock of smaller black birds flying across the upper left corner.