Additional Publications

"The warmly charming and little reader engaging picture book story by storyteller and illustrator Liesel Soley, "Can You Be An Artist?", is about three ordinary young people that include a boy named Freddie and his family and the people he meets, a young girl named Honey and her family and friends, as well as another boy named Bae Cho whose family was originally from Korea and his life in New York City. "Can You Be An Artist?" is an entertaining delight that with its message for young readers ages 5-8 that they can and should 'Dare to follow your dreams! Dare to be yourself! Dare to be free!!' That anyone can be an artist if they want to! "Can You Be An Artist" is an especially and unreservedly recommended addition to family, elementary school, and community library picture book collections for children."

"This book feels so close to the heart. Through its warm, lively illustrations, it takes the reader to that place where family is close at hand and it’s safe to explore the world of possibility. Once in that space, the text takes over and causes the reader’s spirit to dance."

"Liesel is one of those engaging and dedicated musicians that encompasses some of the following words: ’trouper,’ ‘dynamic,’ ‘energetic,’ and ’spontaneous.’ I think her nickname should be ‘Vivace,’ as that relates to vitality. The absence of egotism, so evident in her teaching success, is a sterling quality. Like the ’silver ladies’ on my vintage Rolls-Royce, she heads off on a chase to a musical horizon with power and grace. Can I say more?

"Her paintings translate and relate to her love of music, for there is movement, meter and ‘parts’ as in a sonata. There are contrasts and unity and a mathematical playfulness that parallels her musical verve."