Lea Colie Wight received her bachelor of fine arts degree from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She later studied at Studio Incamminati School for Contemporary Realist Art, where she's now one of the lead teachers for more than 12 years. She has also served as a teaching assistant to Nelson Shanks at the Art Students League of New York.

She earned Honor Awards in the Portrait Society of America's 2009 and 2010 International Portrait Competition as well as a 2011 Certificate of Excellence. The Butler Institute of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio) gave her an Honor Award in its Inspiring Figures exhibition (2010), and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (Ind.) included her work in their 2010 and 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennials.

She has been featured in numerous publications including a comprehensive article on color principles in March 2015 The Artist's Magazine issue and produced a popular color instructional video for American Artist magazine that is also available on artistsnetwork.tv. Lea maintains a studio in Manasquan, New Jersey, as well as in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.