PORTLAND — Laura Argitis has never displayed artwork for sale in the 23 years she has owned the Old Port Sea Grill.

But something about Devan Newell’s email caught her eye.

“I am emailing you today to see if you would be interested in displaying some local art in your dining room or perhaps having a commission piece done,” he wrote. “My name is Devan Newell and my Mother Leslie has Parkinson’s disease and uses artwork as a form of therapy. As her condition advances I am making it a goal of mine to have her artwork reach a wider audience.”

Leslie Newell makes artwork inspired by the ocean, creating sculptures out of driftwood and mussel shells from her favorite beaches. Last year, her son gave himself the title of her “creative director.” He started reaching out to galleries and restaurants in hopes of sharing the person and the art he loves with more people.

“My mom’s story inspired my own strength,” Devan, 22, said. “It also empowers her.”

Argitis hung 17 pieces in her Commercial Street restaurant this summer. Sales and commissions followed. On Wednesday, Leslie and her partner, Michael “Spark” Regn, brought a suitcase full of her whimsical fish sculptures from their home in North Conway, New Hampshire, to replace one made out of a found bicycle seat that will be shipped to a buyer in Utah.

“I’m never going to be famous,” Leslie, 64, said. “But I love what I do.”

Leslie grew up in Falmouth. Her family spent weeks at a time on a 64-foot sailboat called The Dragonfly. Her dad called her his “little monkey girl” because she was constantly climbing the rigging. Her mom volunteered as a docent at the Portland Museum of Art for more than 40 years.

For years, Leslie worked in the cosmetics department at Macy’s. Devan can picture his mom vacuuming in her stilettos when he was a kid. She always collected colorful marbles and pieces of driftwood.

Devan is the youngest of her three children and lives in Scarborough while he is in nursing school. He described his mom as “a powerhouse.”

“She is able to, no matter what, always put a smile on her face, even in the hardest moments,” he said.

He remembers when she started making art. They were living near Broad Cove in Scarborough, and the budget was tight. His mom started painting fish on those salvaged pieces of driftwood and selling them in local coffee shops and restaurants.

“Artwork has been something that she’s leaned on these past 15 years,” he said. “It’s always been something that she returned to.”

In 2014, Leslie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, a progressive condition that impacts the nervous system. Symptoms vary but include tremors, stiffness, slowed movements and problems with balance. Devan struggled to see his mom unable to apply her eyeliner or stir a pot of soup.

Leslie manages her symptoms without medication. She turned to acupuncture and yoga and meditation. She also turned to art. Even when she wakes up with the tremor in her left hand, she will spend the morning carefully hammering tiny nails into driftwood for the fishes’ teeth.

“It’s good for my dexterity,” she said.

Devon hired a friend to take professional photos and set up a website. (She uses the name “Dragonfly HeArt” in a nod to the sailboat of her childhood.) And he started reaching out to businesses that might display her art on their walls and has heard back from at least one other so far.

Leslie recently fell while climbing the ladder to her loft studio and hurt her leg. She’s been using a walker, but when she arrived at the Old Port Sea Grill on Wednesday, she ditched it when she saw Argitis. “Look at me,” she said as she took a few steps forward for a hug. They’re planning a “meet the artist event” on Nov. 8 from noon to 4 p.m.

“I don’t know what it is about the work,” Argitis said. “It felt like it really belonged here.”

Each piece often has a deeper message that reflects Leslie’s worldview. One piece at the center of the display at Old Port Sea Grill is a heart shaped out of mussel shells. The title is “Heart of the Ocean,” and Leslie’s accompanying note is true to her: “May its grand spirit guide you together.”

She is hoping to move back to Maine. (“I need to walk the beach again,” she said.) But until then, she’ll still be found where she always is — with a paintbrush in her hand.