As a pastel painter, color is what grabs Diane Leifheit. Her home base, the Adirondack region,contains the whole spectrum of color from the blue that is a shadow in a snowbank to the myriad greens of summer, to the riot of autumn leaves. The human figure ads depth to her compositions relating the land to its inhabitants. Leifheit's medium of pastel allows her to construct a very close interpretation of a particular landscape, but also exhibit the freedom to capture a mood in the work i.e. misty mornings, swirling snow storms or the atmosphere of a hot, humid day.Working with portraiture has allowed Leifheit to explore the beauty of the human face. In 2014 she completed 185 faces for a portrait project, Face to Face: Drawn to Saranac Lake, depicting the people of her home town Saranac Lake, not just residents but visitors too. The project strengthenedher abilities with the figure and allowed Leifheit to get much closer to her home town. The exhibit gave the residents and visitors of the town a real perspective of who the town was that year.Currently Diane Leifheit is a plein air painter, painting outside. Her subject matter is at times as close as her own own back yard or as far afield as her travels across country and to Mexico.