Early recognition in the state of Ohio encouraged Paul Leasure to forsake a career in electronics engineering and pursue his passion for painting. At age 25, his unique artistic accomplishments were the subject of an article in the Plain Dealer, a principal Cleveland newspaper. By 1995, Leasure had designed and created an exhibit entitled Earth Walk that highlighted a renewed interest to the splendors of our planet. This unique exhibit presented his renderings of wildlife art in an environment that included plants, music, and even live animals. The experience caught the attention of The Plain Dealer, WEWS 5, Fox 8, WKYC 3 News.

While in Ohio, Leasure instructed art classes at Lakeland College. There his students studied techniques for rendering illusionary realism in the art of trompe l’oeil. His paintings are sometimes massive in size. One of his works of “Vineyards in the Late Sun”, was on a single canvas measuring over 17 ft. x 10 ft.

Leasure’s first Santa Barbara commission came in 1997 when his work was spotted in Art & Antique Magazine by Janet Darian. The Darians flew Paul to Santa Barbara for a commissioned trompe l'oeil in their Hope Ranch home. Observing Leasure’s work in progress, Alan and Sandy Kirkby, commissioned Paul to render a mural on the dinning room ceiling.

By 2000, a healthy portion of Leasure’s work was in the Santa Barbara area. The travel began to take it’s toll. “It was so beautiful out here, and my clients were sosupportive,” Leasure says, “that I made the decision to move.” After seeing much of Paul’s work, Jim Buckly, editor of the Montecito Journal, ran a cover story in January of 2003 naming Leasure “Montecito’s Renaissance Man.” Since then, images of Leasure’s work have been accompanied by editorial in publications including The Santa Barbara News Press. Paul was invited by The Santa Barbara Visual Arts Association to curate the 2004 “Liquid Visions” exhibit at The Fielding Graduate Institute. In April of 2004, Leasure was nominated to be a Vice President at the Santa Barbara Art Association.

Colorblind from birth, Leasure has developed his trademark' technique for developing color. By learning the spectral reflectance values of each of his paints, he renders his colors accurately by employing science. Interestingly, he won his first art award at age 14 based on his use of color. At the request of Bill Owens, of X-rite, Inc., Paul is presently conducting research in hopes of developing a method for colorblind artists and other professionals to work with color.

Paul’s work has been influenced by a variety of interesting places. Leasure has traversed remote shores

and mountains to explore places such as the Peles Castle in Sinaia - Prahova County, Romania. The jagged stratum on the shores and peaks of Montana de Oro, California, are in his own back yard, only a mile from his residence. He has even explored the remote Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica while researching the Corcovado Rain Forest for a mural project.

Many of Leasure's works have found their way into some impressive personal collections including that of Patrick Stone, a member of the board of directors for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Paul’s most recent artistic focus has been on two series of paintings. “Receding Tides” is an “up close” detailed study of the Montana De Oro State Park reef. “Cascading Waters” is also a “zoomed in” detailed study of the waters tumbling down the rocky river and stream beds of North Carolina’s Mountains.