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Lesley Baumann

Visit us at the Kentucky Book Fair

October 25, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

2019 Kentucky Book Festival Catalog

Visit us during the Kentucky Book Fair at the Alltech Arena located in the Kentucky Horse Park on Saturday, November 16, 2019. Lesley will be available to sign books and say hello from 9am to 1pm. The fair is part of the week-long Kentucky Book Festival. To learn more, click here »

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Joseph-Beth Booksellers

October 22, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

J is for Justify is now on the shelves of Joseph-Beth Booksellers‘ Lexington location. It was a blast to visit and sign some copies on October 4th. This store is an absolute paradise. There’s an entire lower level devoted to children’s books, and they even have Breyer horses. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend a visit!

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Full Circle at Keeneland

October 18, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

author/illustrator holding J is for Justify book in front of the Keeneland gift shop

My first opportunity to ever attend a live horse race was in 1993. My dad and I went to Keeneland and witnessed Prairie Bayou and Mike Smith winning the Bluegrass Stakes together. It seems only fitting that the Keeneland Shop would become the first location to carry my first book, J is for Justify. The book serendipitously features Mike Smith charging to a Triple Crown victory aboard Justify.

On October 5th, I got to take my husband and son to this iconic track for their fist time. It was a fabulous Fall Stars Weekend. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, we got to have a bunch of famous jockeys autograph a poster and we saw so many great horses up close.

I absolutely cannot wait until the Breeder’s Cup comes to Keeneland next year!

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Ashford Stud Visit

October 15, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

Six months ago, I had the greatest time taking a tour of Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. Both living Triple Crown winners, Justify and American Pharoah, now call this incredibly beautiful farm home.

My husband and I only took a million or two photos that day. I had hoped to share them right away, but when we returned home that night, we realized something was seriously wrong with our dog. We found out the next morning that he had cancer and lost him a few days later. And then a week after that, I lost my beloved gelding to colic. There was only one week left until the book release at that point, and I was grateful for the memory of visiting these two majestic souls to help me power through to the end.

I hope to visit Ashford again someday (and many of the other farms for which Horse Country offers tours). In the meantime, here are just a few images from that memorable April afternoon.

  • Justify at Ashford Stud on April 16, 2019
  • American Pharoah at Ashford Stud on April 16, 2019
  • Justify on colored background

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The Art of J is for Justify

April 24, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

Book Illustrations on Display at Local Brewery

DAYTON, Ohio,  April 12, 2019 — Local artist Lesley Baumann’s horse illustrations from her upcoming book, J is for Justify, will be on display at Crooked Handle Brewing Company this May. A free opening reception will be held the evening before the Kentucky Derby from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3. While the artwork will be on display during the taproom’s normal business hours, the reception will offer attendees an opportunity to meet the artist, ask questions about the process behind the artwork (it might surprise you!) and enjoy an evening out at a local craft brewery.

J is for Justify is an alphabet book, inspired by the 13th Triple Crown winner, that features 26 famous racehorses. From American Pharoah to Zenyatta, the pages are filled with colorful illustrations and tales of courage, perseverance and victory. Though it is a children’s picture book, it is sure to entertain the young at heart and horse lovers alike. Anecdotes include details about Justify’s knack for achieving impossible goals, Rachel Alexandra’s ability to outrun the boys and the fact that Secretariat’s heart was about twice as large as that of a normal horse. It is also layered with details  including the horses’ birthdays and which ones won the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown.

The illustrations feature Baumann’s detailed horse drawings. A departure from her normal utilization of traditional media, these pieces were all created digitally. The phases of their strides are reminiscent of a Muybridge stop-motion photograph sequence, and if you were to turn through the pages as if they were from a flip book, the horses would appear to animate. Bold background patterns are derived from the jockeys’ silks, and the repetition of the alphabet letters in the artwork is a detail that the youngest readers will enjoy. The display at Crooked Handle will feature each of the vibrant illustrations printed on gallery-wrapped canvas.

“It has been such a thrill to take something that I’ve always loved doing — drawing horses, learning more about horses and talking about horses — and package that up neatly into this tangible book,” notes Baumann. “I really love sharing the stories of these racetrack heroes with my son, and I hope that other families enjoy the experience of pouring over the details together as well.”

Born the year Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown, Lesley Baumann is a graphic designer, animal portrait artist and the author/illustrator of the picture book J is for Justify. She grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and earned her BS in Design from the University of Cincinnati before moving to Arizona, California, Vermont and back to Ohio while building her client base. In all aspects of her work, Lesley has a skill for observing a subject and translating it into stunning visuals that resonate with the intended audience. In her free time, she enjoys riding her American Saddlebred named Clever, cheering for her favorite racehorses as they thunder down the stretch and attempting to keep up with her exuberant young Justify fan.

Mark your calendars for the art show reception from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2019. Crooked Handle Brewing Company is located at 760 North Main Street, Springboro, OH 45066. To learn more about the brewery, visit https://crookedhandle.com. For more information about the art, visit https://jisforjustify.com or call Lesley Baumann at (937) 395-2012. You can also follow along with the book’s progress on social media. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lajbaumann/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jisforjustify Twitter: https://twitter.com/jisforjustify

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J is for Justify

March 28, 2019 by Lesley Baumann Leave a Comment

Unraced at two, before the Derby he had little time to rehearse.
Nonetheless he won the race and broke Apollo’s Curse.
His victorious emergence from the Preakness fog was quite serene.
Next he won the Belmont and Triple Crown thirteen.
He had exploded onto the scene and defied expectation.
He proved that you should dare to dream and captured our imagination.

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Author/Illustrator

Lesley A.J. Baumann

+1.937.395.2012

info@jisforjustify.com

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