Leah Macdonald
I am a portrait artist. I primarily photograph women and embellish the photographs with layers of beeswax, colored wax, painting and drawing. Adding wax for texture and color for mood changes the black and white photographs. Wax embellishes and veils my subjects and I draw to decorate and control the image. The ability to layer mediums and constantly change appearance and texture allows me to stray from reality and reach the playground of imagination. I am interested in images from nature and designs that have floral and intricate forms.
I have enjoyed a varied career path within the arts. I shoot digital commercial photography and I own a small company that designs handmade art books and wedding albums. I taught photography for 7 years at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I am currently the Education Curriculum Director at the Manayunk-Roxborough Art Center. In 2017 I was selected as the recipient of the NewCourtland Fellowship by The Center for Emerging Visual Artists. Now, over twenty years into my career as an artist and art educator, I have taught and exhibited all over the world — from being invited to do a live encaustic painting demonstration on the Martha Stewart show to working in the theater as the scenic director of In My Body: The Musical.
Black Flower, encaustic on board, 5" x 3" SOLD
Flower Abstract 1, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 24" x 18" SOLD
Flower Abstract 2, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 24" x 18" Available
Halloween, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 12" x 12" SOLD
Hard to Be Me, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 10" x 10" Available
Hidden, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 20" x 16" SOLD
Organic, encaustic on board, 7" x 5" SOLD
Orange Skirt, encaustic photograph on wood panel, 24" x 18" SOLD
Red Flower, encaustic on board, 5" x 3" SOLD
Black Poppy, encaustic on board, 7" x 5" Available
Feather, encaustic on board, 5" x 3" SOLD
Pale Blue, encaustic on board, 6" x 6" SOLD
