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Leah Davies, a native of Massachusetts, attended Montserrat
College of Art and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
She has been painting, printmaking and creating art since early
1990's. She has focused on working mainly in gouache for the
past six years. Leah has been a custom framer since the age of
16, a craft she is drawn to because it brings her close to other
artists and to people who appreciate art. She has been an
assitant manager with the Post Road Art Center since 2005. She
particularly enjoys preserving art work and has an eye for
presenting works of art in their best light. A native of Townsend,
Leah recently returned to Hudson, where she has reconnected
with the community where her family and roots lie. At home, she
often reflects on the art she has seen and discussed at work -- all
of it an inspiration when she sets out to create her own artwork.
College of Art and the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
She has been painting, printmaking and creating art since early
1990's. She has focused on working mainly in gouache for the
past six years. Leah has been a custom framer since the age of
16, a craft she is drawn to because it brings her close to other
artists and to people who appreciate art. She has been an
assitant manager with the Post Road Art Center since 2005. She
particularly enjoys preserving art work and has an eye for
presenting works of art in their best light. A native of Townsend,
Leah recently returned to Hudson, where she has reconnected
with the community where her family and roots lie. At home, she
often reflects on the art she has seen and discussed at work -- all
of it an inspiration when she sets out to create her own artwork.
The Flowers
Throughout the years, I have been capturing flowers, tiny insects and natural objects through the lens of my
camera. I would store them on my computer, crop the images, print them out and crop them again, always
searching for a pleasing, intimate view of my subject. Never satisfied with the actual photos, I knew I could
transform these images into beautiful finished products by interpreting the photographs through paint.
I have always had a passion for the intimacy of flowers, their delicate curves, shapes and forms. I often have
felt that such beauty found in a plant or flower is lost by the viewer. I hope to bring my audience to a new
level of experiencing a flower, natural object, or even an insect.
Over the last six to seven years I have been trying to mix my passion towards plant-life with my passion and
need to paint intricately and thoughtfully. My process is my own. When I attended college, I studied
printmaking and never received formal training in painting. After cropping my photographs, sometimes
several times, I plot out the image on paper. I most often start with the foreground, and work my way around
my surface in a radial. The background comes last, and often I have left the center of the flower for last.
Sometimes I lay down large areas of color, starting with the lightest colors and working my way to the darkest.
Other times, I work in segments, with my thoughts on the composition, to ensure it would all make sense in
the end.
Working in a small scale has always been my preference. The small surface area allows to me to have
complete concentration of the entire composition and therefore I am able to add the fine detail. During this
journey I have conquered obstacles, and have been faced with walls I had to work around, or discover new
techniques or processes. My preferred paint has been gouache for over six years; I stumbled upon the paint
while experimenting. I immediately connected with gouache because it had all the qualities I needed in a paint
and none of the qualities I disliked. I found oils impossible, as the drying time did not suit me. Acrylics I found
to dry too fast on the pallet and on my painting surface, and not having the ability to rewet and rework the
paint was also problematic. Although gouache is very similar to watercolor, the fact that I could use gouache
thicker on my paper allowed me to create the dimension and light found in my paintings.
The Abstracts
Gouache is not typically a slow-drying paint, but when I need to lay down large areas of color, my paper often
needs time to dry. As I wait for the paint to seep into the fibers of my paper, my creative energy is still alive
and I quickly find ways to occupy myself between paint layers. Often, I pick up scraps of mat board and
whatever art materials are around my art space. Some abstracts are created with plaster and acrylics, others
with household white glue and ink, and some with oil pastels. Although this show is about the plant life and
natural objects, I wanted to share with my audience the creativity that ran through the entire making of this
show.
Throughout the years, I have been capturing flowers, tiny insects and natural objects through the lens of my
camera. I would store them on my computer, crop the images, print them out and crop them again, always
searching for a pleasing, intimate view of my subject. Never satisfied with the actual photos, I knew I could
transform these images into beautiful finished products by interpreting the photographs through paint.
I have always had a passion for the intimacy of flowers, their delicate curves, shapes and forms. I often have
felt that such beauty found in a plant or flower is lost by the viewer. I hope to bring my audience to a new
level of experiencing a flower, natural object, or even an insect.
Over the last six to seven years I have been trying to mix my passion towards plant-life with my passion and
need to paint intricately and thoughtfully. My process is my own. When I attended college, I studied
printmaking and never received formal training in painting. After cropping my photographs, sometimes
several times, I plot out the image on paper. I most often start with the foreground, and work my way around
my surface in a radial. The background comes last, and often I have left the center of the flower for last.
Sometimes I lay down large areas of color, starting with the lightest colors and working my way to the darkest.
Other times, I work in segments, with my thoughts on the composition, to ensure it would all make sense in
the end.
Working in a small scale has always been my preference. The small surface area allows to me to have
complete concentration of the entire composition and therefore I am able to add the fine detail. During this
journey I have conquered obstacles, and have been faced with walls I had to work around, or discover new
techniques or processes. My preferred paint has been gouache for over six years; I stumbled upon the paint
while experimenting. I immediately connected with gouache because it had all the qualities I needed in a paint
and none of the qualities I disliked. I found oils impossible, as the drying time did not suit me. Acrylics I found
to dry too fast on the pallet and on my painting surface, and not having the ability to rewet and rework the
paint was also problematic. Although gouache is very similar to watercolor, the fact that I could use gouache
thicker on my paper allowed me to create the dimension and light found in my paintings.
The Abstracts
Gouache is not typically a slow-drying paint, but when I need to lay down large areas of color, my paper often
needs time to dry. As I wait for the paint to seep into the fibers of my paper, my creative energy is still alive
and I quickly find ways to occupy myself between paint layers. Often, I pick up scraps of mat board and
whatever art materials are around my art space. Some abstracts are created with plaster and acrylics, others
with household white glue and ink, and some with oil pastels. Although this show is about the plant life and
natural objects, I wanted to share with my audience the creativity that ran through the entire making of this
show.
| Leah Davies |
| Artist Bio |
| Artist Statement |
