North Shore Hwy 61

Lessard likes the lighting in his studio, where he is shown working on a landscape.

Painter Don Lessard smiles every time he goes into his studio. It’s a secret room he calls “Narnia” and the only way to reach it is by opening a closet door, drawing back the clothing hanging there and turning the knob on a door hidden behind. Inside is a great window for north light, an easel and his oil paints—a perfect place for this talented painter to weave his magic.

“I’ve been a carpenter my whole life,” Lessard said. “That’s how I was able to buy groceries. But I’ve painted almost as long as I was a carpenter. I started in the ’60s at a junior college at White Bear Lake.

Painter steps through a door in his closet to enter “Narnia” his home studio.

“At first, I thought I could make my living as an artist, but as the kids started coming, I realized that it was going to take more than that. So it’s been art and construction.”

That formula continues to work for him, and Lessard shows his work at a number of local galleries, including Betsy Bowen’s Studio in Grand Marais and Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen. He joins a group of painters in Thunder Bay once a week to paint together. One of their favorite trips is to go to Bayfield, Wis., in the summer where they camp and paint and paint some more.