Kathryn Sobey Leslie, 94, an award-winning artist who worked in oil paint and watercolors and also did sculpture and textile design, died of respiratory failure Nov. 21 at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Mrs. Leslie was a longtime resident of Chestnut Hill before moving in 1991 to Beaumont at Bryn Mawr, a retirement community.

Mrs. Leslie was widely known for her oil and watercolor paintings capturing Philadelphia scenes. These included depictions of flowers and gardens, vivid Wissahickon landscapes, and performances at the Academy of Music.

She also was known for painting when traveling here and abroad. Mrs. Leslie maintained studios at her Chestnut Hill home and at her vacation home in Vermont.

She exhibited her works at the Woodmere Art Museum, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Moore College of Art and Design, and local galleries. A member of the Philadelphia Watercolor Society, she was listed in Who's Who in American Art and was an honorary member of the American Watercolor Society.

Mrs. Leslie painted for the sake of art. Despite many offers to purchase her works, she usually refused, and also turned down commissions, her family said.

"She wanted the freedom to paint what she wanted to paint," said daughter Patricia Leslie Noonan.

Mrs. Leslie's work was exhibited recently at Campbell's Place, her granddaughter's restaurant in Chestnut Hill.

"It was difficult explaining to my customers why none of it was for sale," said Vanessa Noonan Mullen.

Having graduated from Roxborough High School in 1933, Mrs. Leslie received a four-year scholarship from the School District of Philadelphia to attend Moore College of Art and Design.

She won many awards for her work as a student, including one from the Friends of the Wissahickon for a series of sketches, which were eventually turned into a wallpaper pattern.

The most significant prize she won at Moore was the P.A.B. Widener European Fellowship, which sent her to the Royal Academy of Art in Edinburgh, Scotland, after her graduation in 1937. It also required her to study at the L'Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, plus in Switzerland and Italy.

While in Edinburgh, she met James Watt Leslie, an anesthesiologist. She returned to the states, taught at Moore, and then went to Scotland to marry Dr. Leslie in 1940.

The couple lived in Birmingham, England, and in Ireland until 1942, when he was sent to India and Burma with Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. The doctor worked with a mobile surgical unit under Mountbatten's command.

During World War II, Mrs. Leslie made a harrowing trip to Philadelphia on the Queen Mary with daughter Katriona, during which the boat zigzagged across the North Atlantic, said Noonan.

After the war, Mrs. Leslie and her husband settled in Philadelphia, where he completed the requirements for licensing in Pennsylvania. He joined the staff at St. Mary Medical Center in Middletown Township, Bucks County. He died in 1986. Daughter Katriona died at 30.

In addition to daughter Patricia and granddaughter Vanessa Noonan Mullen, Mrs. Leslie is survived by grandchildren Kimberly Noonan, John James Noonan, Andrew Noonan, Katrina Sullivan Sutton, James Sullivan, and Eugene Scott Sullivan, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Services were scheduled for last week.

Memorial donations may be sent to Susan G. Komen For the Cure by visiting www.komen.org and clicking on "donate."

Contact staff writer Bonnie L. Cook at 610-313-8232 or bcook@phillynews.com.