Found Art is a memoir of the year author Leeana Tankersley lived in the Middle East with her Navy SEAL husband during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. After a whirlwind courtship, a move across the world, and the unexpectedly difficult re-entry from a year overseas, Leeana finds her life (and her soul) has been changed forever. With an artist's eye, Tankersley uses each chapter to piece together moments and memories from her journey---a handwritten note from Kuwait, a braid of fringe from a Persian rug, an original poem, a bit of basting thread, a swatch of black silk from a borrowed abaya, a mesquite leaf, a Navy SEAL trident, a receipt from the Russian-Georgian restaurant on Louisiana Street---to create a work of unexpected beauty. Found art emerges ... a literary collage created from salvaged stories of loss, hope, and belief that just might change your soul, too.
Leeana Miller Tankersley was born and raised in San Diego, California. She holds English degrees from Liberty University and West Virginia University. Having gained invaluable experience (and material) from an array of jobs including teaching Freshmen Comp at WVU, bagging groceries in the Middle East, working on a church staff in San Diego, and selling lingerie at Nordstrom, Leeana is enjoying her latest vocation: author.
In 2003, Leeana married Steve Tankersley, an active duty Navy SEAL who is, in her words, "very easy on the eyes." Eight days after their wedding, Leeana moved to the Middle East where she and Steve lived for a year while he completed his tour on the U.S. base in Bahrain.
Found Art: Discovering Beauty in Foreign Places, Leeana's first book, chronicles the year she lived in Bahrain and the unexpected beauty that emerged from her experiences of displacement and re-entry.
Currently, Leeana offers workshops and retreats drawing on the themes in Found Art. Between book gigs, you'll find one of her b/g twins, Luke Stephen and Lane Watkins, perched on her hip. Leeana and Steve and the twins currently live in San Diego.
