About Leah K Read
I am a Northern California artist whose work explores the intersections of memory, transformation, and our relationship with the natural world. Through layered works that move between painting and sculpture, I transform overlooked materials and familiar forms into contemplative compositions that invite viewers to slow down, look closely, and discover meaning in what might otherwise go unnoticed.
Born in Chicago and raised among the forests, coastline, and wildlife of Marin County, California, I developed an enduring connection to the natural world that continues to shape my artistic practice. My work is rooted in the belief that transformation begins with attention. A weathered book page, a fading newspaper, a quiet landscape, or a single bloom can become a vessel for memory, resilience, and human connection. Rather than documenting the visible world, I create works that reveal the emotional significance hidden within it.
My early career in commercial design continues to inform the balance, rhythm, and visual clarity of my compositions, while an intuitive, material-driven process allows each piece to evolve through layers of beeswax, pigment, paper, cyanotype, and other mixed media. Across my bodies of work, I explore transformation through sculptural floral forms, layered landscapes, and photographic processes, revealing unexpected connections between material, memory, and the natural world. I approach each series with a unified commitment to transformation, material exploration, and attentive observation.
From my Northern California studio, I create one-of-a-kind archival works that reward sustained looking. I invite viewers to pause, look more closely, and discover that what is often overlooked can become unexpectedly meaningful.
Artist Statement
My work begins with paying attention.
I believe that slowing down and looking closely has the power to change the way we see, revealing connections, possibilities, and meaning that might otherwise remain unnoticed. Curiosity is the starting point for my practice, leading me to the quiet details of the natural world and to ordinary materials that carry traces of time.
I create to discover possibilities that observation alone cannot reveal.
A book page becomes a bloom. A flower becomes a portrait. A landscape becomes an emotional terrain. What is overlooked becomes newly seen.
Creating is how I explore and understand the world. I build each piece through cycles of layering, obscuring, scraping back, and revealing, allowing the process itself to shape what the work becomes. Drawn to materials that already carry stories, I transform worn book pages, newspaper, cardboard, family photographs, and cyanotypes into new relationships of image, surface, and form. Encaustic allows these elements to merge into layered surfaces where traces of their original histories remain while new possibilities emerge. Each layer becomes both a physical record of the creative process and a reflection of how memories, identities, relationships, and experiences evolve over time.
Although my work takes different forms, the questions that guide it remain constant. How do we find meaning in what we overlook? How do the materials we surround ourselves with carry the stories of our lives? How does paying closer attention change the way we see the world and our place within it?
My lifelong relationship with the natural world began while exploring the coastal landscapes of Point Reyes, where I learned to observe quietly and look closely. That early way of seeing continues to shape my practice today. Years later, my background in graphic design strengthened my understanding of composition, visual relationships, and restraint. A pivotal encounter with the work of Raimonds Staprans encouraged me to embrace intuition alongside structure and to trust that discovery often lies beyond certainty.
Working from my studio in Northern California, I create one-of-a-kind works that invite sustained looking. I hope each piece encourages viewers to slow down, look closely, and discover that paying attention has the power to change the way we see.
Exhibitions
Lasting Impressions - IEA Juried Exhibition 2025
Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main Street, Cooperstown NY 13326
October 3 - 31, 2025
EAI (Encaustic Art Institute) Member Only Exhibition
Museum of Encaustic Art, 18 County Road, 55A, Cerrillos, NM 87010
When in Rome: The Art of Travel Exhibition & Publication
International Encaustic Artists, Online & Print Publication
Pacific Art League 103rd Anniversary Exhibition
Pacific Art League Palo Alto, CA 94301
WaxOn – WaxIn
Museum of Encaustic Art, Cerrillos, NM 87010
Wax and Wildflowers
San Antonio Art League & Museum in partnership
with International Encaustic Artist, San Antonio, TX
Silicon Valley Open Studios
San Jose, CA
Members Only Online Show (MOOS)
Pastel Society of the West Coast, Online
Pastel USA
Pastel Society of the West Coast, Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA
Landscapes, Seascape & Cityscape
Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
Feathers, Fur, and Fins
Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
Publications
When in Rome: The Art of Travel Exhibition & Publication
International Encaustic Artists, February 2025
Wax and Wildflowers Exhibition Catalog
San Antonio Art League & Museum in partnership
with International Encaustic Artist, June 2023
Of Murmurs and Musings
Internal Collaborative Catalog, San Jose Museum of Art, April 2023
Pastel Society of the West Coast Magazine
Spring, 2020, Tulip Blooms
Pastel Society of the West Coast Magazine
Summer 2019, Black Hen
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art
California State University, Fullerton
Workshops and Professional Development
Mentor
Sandra Jones, San Jose, California
Encaustic Workshops:
Lonnie Zarem, Palo Alto, California
Jaya King, San Jose, California
Alicia Tormey, Online course
Painting with Fire, yearlong online workshop with 26 instructors, including: Kathryn Bevier, Christian Lovisa, Amanda Jolley, Patricia Baldwin Seggebruch, Angela Hansen, Elise Wagner, Erin Keane, Crystal Marie Neubauer, Shary Bartlett, Linda Robertson, Clare O’Neill, Michelle Belto
Pastel Workshops
Terrilynn Dubreuil, Online
Barbara Jaenicke, Bend, Oregon
Collectors
Sebastop, CA
Los Altos, CA
San Jose, CA
Fort Collins, CO
San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico
Palo Alto, CA
Green Valley, AZ
Ashland, OR
Point Reyes Station, CA