esley was born in Sheffield in the North of England in 1970.   She graduated from Humberside University in 1994 with an Honours Degree in Graphic Design.  Lesley spent her early post-graduate years working for various established publishing houses and design companies in the UK.   She went freelance in 1999 to specialise in character

based illustration with clients in Television, UK National Health Service and Publishing Companies.

Lesley left the UK in 2005 to live in Auckland, New Zealand, producing children's book illustration for Penguin Books, information posters for New Zealand Playcentre Federation and is currently collaborating with New Zealand writers on children's book projects.