Leila was born in January, 1974 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she studied fashion design and later moved to Cape Town in 1995.

 

Leila worked in the clothing industry, travelled the world extensively, and then retired in 2008 to start a family, which is when she began painting.  Leila started exhibiting/selling her work in 2009, and opened her own gallery space within the walls of Fine Art Africa in 2020,

 

 Much of her work has been sold abroad. Her creativity is largely motivated by her spiritual upbringing and practice as she looks to nature and her surroundings for inspiration, powerfully driven by connection and emotion.