I've known Leslie Ohnstad for many years. You probably know her too, even if her name and face are not familiar. Leslie invented LuminArte Radiant Pearls, Twinkling H2Os, Radiant Rain sprays and pourables, Silks iridescent acrylic glazes, Primary Elements Artist Pigments and Simple Solutions.



Leslie is part chemist and part alchemist. Her secret formulas combine mica and other proprietary minerals with brilliant color. The result: iridescent sparkle that refracts light like crystals. This is different from reflecting light (which is more of a mirror effect). What she has created is used by cardmakers and scrapbookers, painters and studio artists, mixed media mavens and art journalers in increasing numbers. There is something for almost any surface - fabric, wood, plastic, paper, terra cotta and glass - and for a wide variety of techniques including stamping, stenciling, glazing, and more. If you haven't already done so, let's hope this profile entices you to give something from LuminArte a try.



If you asked me to pack for a journey to a desert island, Twinkling H2Os would be right next to the chocolate. I keep Scarab Beetle and Solar Gold on my work table at all times, with a back-up jar of each in my travel pack. To say I'm a fan is something of an understatement.

The longer I know Leslie, the more impressed I am by her talents. She is, quite simply, a rainbow with hands. I've said many times that I've never seen her wear a single-color outfit. In fact, I've never seen her wearing something I didn't immediately want to own. Her flowing multi-hued garments reflect her lifelong passion for color. She dreams about colors, and when she wakes up, brings those dreams to life in the form of jars and bottles of color. She named her company Dreaming in Color, and she is the colorist and genius behind everything made by LuminArte.



Once upon a time, Leslie filled jars with Radiant Pearls - her first product - in her garage. Fast forward: She now works out of a spacious design studio, clinking beakers together like a mad scientist and creating exciting new products like Silks iridescent acrylic glazes, launched in 2011. LuminArte products are now sold worldwide through Creative Imaginations, where Leslie is the LuminArte Creative Director. She can be found at the demo table at trade shows, and she's at the helm of the Dreaming in Color website (DreamingColor without the "in" in the name) where you can find all of her products.

Some interesting trivia: Leslie is a self-described "ham" and performed in children's theater and opera. Alas, she didn't get to go to her high school prom because a sculpture fell on her during an art exhibit. But nothing has ever stopped her in matters of creativity. She harbors a lifelong dream of working with at-risk children, especially runaways. Leslie is keenly aware that art and color can be life changing.



Leslie and I often talk at 8 or 9 in the morning. That would be 8:00 on the East Coast where I live, but 5:00 AM out in California where Leslie lives and works. Yes, she is up that early. In fact, by then she has already put in an hour or two in anticipation of her team that arrive to pack boxes and work on the website and all the rest.

She sleeps now and then. Or at least I think she does. One is never sure. When Leslie isn't inventing new products and new colors, she's busy making jewelry, participates in art retreats, cooks up class projects, paints gourds and anything else that holds still. In quiet moments, she hangs out with her five kitties. Leslie is fearless. She's been a bartender, and sold cars and construction materials.



A touch of irony: Leslie lost a job in the Internet division of a company whose owner declared that "The Internet is a joke - it has no future." Who knew that a reversal of fortune would end up being the start of a journey of discovery; the kick-start to her purposeful next life! During those difficult months, the local stamp store became her second home. Leslie says that stamping saved her. It also gave her the idea that started her business: She had a dream about translucent colors with a 3D pearlized look, but there was nothing on the market that did what she envisioned. She did extensive research, talked with chemists, and began to test formulas - one little jar after another - till one night the right formula came to her in yet another dream. (See why she calls her company Dreaming in Color?) It had taken a year for Radiant Pearls to be born.



Leslie's dear friend, the late and equally colorful Kat Runge, challenged Leslie to start teaching classes and convinced her to sell Radiant Pearls. Leslie took the plunge. She chuckles at the memory and says with a laugh, "If someone were to ask me today whether a person with less than $400 should start a business I'd tell them to run for the hills. Though if the idea is burning in your heart and your belly, then yes - you have to do it. There are no words for how much work is involved."

Hats off to Leslie Ohnstad for sticking with it through the ups and downs of running a business, for following her dreams - every single colorful one of them. Meanwhile, while she's filling orders and inventing new colors, I'm heading for my worktable to "wake up" my Twinkling H2Os with a few drops of water. I, too, have dreams to follow and these days they require a paintbrush.

(Visit the dreamingcolor website to learn more and to sign up to follow Leslie Ohnstad's blog.)

To find the products featured in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.

PROJECT CREDITS

Projects and photos courtesy of:
Luminarte/Dreaming In Color and the designers listed below:
Burma by Vivian Bonder
Illuminate by Vivian Bonder
Legend by Margret Kuljac
Texturized Pottery-like Gourd by Betsy Roberts
Silks Quilt by Sherry Rogers-Harrison
Abstract by Dion Dior
Black Gesso by Dion Dior
Twinkling H2Os by Dion Dior

A printable project card showing Instructions and a list of supplies for this project can be found by clicking on the “Step-by-step instructions” link within this article.

To find the products mentioned in this article and shown in these layouts, check with your local scrapbook retailer. Browse our Premier Retail Stores for coupons to a store near you.