About the Artists | Purpose Driven Art | Using art for the common good.

Doug and Eileen Leunig are photographic artists who work collaboratively, building on each other’s strengths and talents. They specialize in a technique called “painting with light,” using high-powered flashlights and a digital camera to give an unfamiliar, magical quality to landscapes, still life compositions, and even water.

“Light is the magician, the enchanter, that turns the common into the uncommon. Shadows are the mysterious forces that give your mind room to roam,” say the Leunigs.

The Leunigs are members of CIAO (Central Illinois Artists Organization) and show their work on First Fridays at The Atelier, 1000 SW Adams, Peoria. They have had art exhibits at the Contemporary Art Center (2012), Picture This Gallery (2011 and 2009), and the Peoria Art Guild (2009 and 2006).

In 2012, Doug and Eileen were named ArtsPartners of the Year for their work as arts advocates and for devoting their talents to further the arts in Central Illinois.

For over 30 years, Doug was employed as a corporate photographer for a Fortune 100 company. He met thousands of interesting people in over 50 countries, traveled dirt roads and major highways around the world, and saw his photographs published in annual reports and advertisements. When one of his early pieces appeared in an ad in National Geographic, he knew he was living his dream.

Eileen’s professional career was in publishing as a writer, editor, and photo editor of textbooks for middle school and high school. She saw thousands of photos, which helped develop her photographic eye. Eileen’s interest in doing her own photography was ignited in 1998 when she and Doug married.

They devote their energy and passion to working for common good and generating awareness of environmental and social issues.

You can learn more about the Leunigs and their show “Unbottled: Intimate Portraits of Water” the Peoria Journal Star.

In November 2009, Doug and Eileen collaborated on the”Gathering Light” exhibit at Picture This Gallery, Peoria Heights. Read the Peoria Journal Star’s review of the show. Eileen and Doug have previously worked together on the Peoria Art Guild’s “Illinois River Stories, A Journey With Regional Photographers” and ” A Contemporary Look at Lincoln’s Visits to the Peoria Area.”