Born into a lineage steeped in creativity, van den hooven’s artistic roots trace back to his grandfather Abraham Leendert van den Hooven, a Dutch sailor-turned-self-taught artist who settled in Australia in the late 1950s.

Leslie’s grandfather Abraham Leendert van den Hooven was born in 1910 in Zuidland, a Dutch province in the South of the Netherlands. He was originally a cook on merchant sailing ships and sailed as far away as the Spice Islands.

After WW2, his family emigrated to Venezuela and stayed until 1957, just before the 1958 coup d’état. The van den Hooven family moved once again from Holland to settle in Australia in 1959.

Upon his retirement there in the late 1960s, he commenced as a self-taught artist and surrounded himself with his own artworks. Prior to this there was no art displayed in the household.

In 1951, Margarita Rosa van den Hooven was born in Petaré, Venezuela. She turned 6 on the boat (Montserrat) to Australia. Margarita first remembers painting on the easels in the painting room at Bonegilla Hostel not long after arriving in Victoria, then later with better quality art materials in primary and secondary school. She then went on to study a tertiary education in fine art.

His mother, Margarita Rosa van den Hooven, pursued a fine art advanced diploma, at the same time as nurturing a household where art and creativity were encouraged. His only sister Michelle also pursued an artistic career, at first completing a fine art diploma at TAFE and then later an art education degree at UNSW.

Leslie’s father Patrick William Brown was also interested in the arts, and an avid reader of books; hence, there were many art books in the household to peruse. Growing up in a time before the internet, reading those books Leslie learned about the impressionists, post-impressionists, expressionists, cubists and surrealists. The family talked at tea time about all of their favourite artists and art movements. Thus van den hooven was exposed to art from a very early age and learned to both appreciate and value it in all aspects.

It is from this family history and upbringing that a new generation of descendants developed an appreciation for fine art and design. Margarita’s son Leslie was born in 1977. Leslie has revered art and design ever since a very young age, admiring artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso.

Leslie has returned to a creative calling after recently completing two separate diplomas in graphic design (2016) and illustration (2018). Having chosen the colour orange to honour a primarily Dutch ancestry, Leslie has constructed a unique, recognisable style of art, subsequently fashioned into an exclusive art brand.