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North Caroline High School’s Payton LeRoy painted her way to first place at the Plein Air art competition in Easton this past July. But perhaps even more impressive than her prize-winning Tidewater Inn painting is her determination to excel in all she does. Daughter of Denton natives Scott and Susan LeRoy, she is an avid artist, tennis champion, future medical leader, community servicewoman, and multidisciplinary dancer.
LeRoy competed in the Next Generation (ages 12 to 18) category at Plein Air, which is the “largest and most prestigious juried plein air painting competition in the United States.” “It’s a big art fest where people go and paint and sell their artwork, and there’s a lot of competition too,” LeRoy said. This was not her first time entering the competition, nor her first time winning first place, “three years ago I won Plein Air for my age group - first place - because I painted a tiger in a park in an abstract quality,” she said. Her dad is who first entered her into the competition.
Her submission this year was modeled after the flowers and greenery outside of Easton’s Tidewater Inn, a piece that took her over eight hours to complete. It was hung with other entries in the Avalon Theatre to be viewed and judged by Dr. Mary Morton, the head of French paintings at the National Gallery of Art in D.C. Her reward for taking first place was $200 cash and a $100 gift card to Dick Blick Art Supplies.
“I’ve always loved art ever since I was very little,” LeRoy said. She added that art has been “a way of expressing how I felt.” It may not come as a surprise that drawing, sketching, and painting realistic landscapes is her go-to. For her Plein Air piece, “ I wanted to pick a spot downtown in Easton that I was drawn to,” she said, “I chose the Tidewater because “it has beautiful flowers and greenery, so I thought it would be pretty fun to paint that little area.”
In addition to her artistic accolades, LeRoy is active in sports, clubs, and other activities.
Earlier this spring she went home a regional champion and state third-place medalist in singles tennis as part of the North Caroline High School tennis team – an impressive feat for a sophomore. “Tennis is my favorite sport,” she explained. This summer alone she has participated in tennis camps at Johns Hopkins University and at Bethany Beach.
“There’s also dance. I do hip hop, jazz, ballet, and contemporary,” she said. LeRoy dances at two local dance companies: To the Pointe in Ridgely and the MidShore Dance Academy in Easton. She is also a shining member of the North Caroline Art Club, which participates in multiple community events such as the school’s annual Haunted Hallways (where LeRoy paints faces) and Black History Month celebrations. Last but certainly not least, LeRoy belongs to the Congress of Future Medical Leaders held annually at UMass in Lowell, Massachusetts, as she plans to major in biomedical engineering and immunology. But don’t worry, she still wants to minor in art. “I never want to stop doing art,” she said.
Oh, and she likes to swim, travel, and spend time with her family and their dog.
LeRoy’s mom, Susan, said “There’s not a day goes by that she doesn’t make my husband and I proud in some way. She’s just a terrific human, and she’s very kind and inclusive with others… She’s just an all-around great person. She’s one of my favorite people, actually.”
LeRoy and her mom both credit the team of art instructors at North Caroline for fostering LeRoy’s talents and helping her grow over the last two years. “What I am most amazed about is the growth in her art, particularly since she started high school,” Susan LeRoy said, “I personally find the faculty there to be very good at what they do… I’m really impressed by the art faculty.” “Ms. Earing, Mr. Goodger, and Ms. Breeding… have really helped me learn a lot about art, and they’ve always been encouraging me too,” said LeRoy.
But LeRoy said her biggest cheerleaders - in all that she does - are her parents. “They're always there for me, encouraging me to keep growing and keep going at it. And their support has really helped me grow a lot,” she said.
