Perspectives: Leah Morace

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Culture, it’s sometimes said, is inseparable from the place that sustains it. Certainly that can be seen in the work of Alexandria artist Leah Morace, whose impressionistic land- and waterscapes depicting the wildlife and scenery of her home state have garnered her a considerable following in and around Central Louisiana. In her paintings—intensely textured works in acrylic on canvas—Morace focuses on the flora, fauna, and pastoral settings of central Louisiana. But the stylized nature of her subjects, which she sets against textured, abstracted backgrounds that give her work a loose, contemporary air, have as much to say about the way it feels to stand in a Louisiana cotton field at sunrise, or on the edge of a lake—as the way it actually looks to be there. “I don’t paint en plein air,” Morace explained. “Instead, I try to take a picture in my mind, then I paint it mostly from memory. I like to be able to tell that [my subject] is a bird—a pelican or an egret—but not necessarily to show every detail. I like to have a little drama in my paintings but I’m not trying to be too realistic. It’s the impression of the place that I’m after.” 

For Morace—a full-time artist and mother of four who works out of a bright studio space in the River Oaks Square Arts Center in downtown Alexandria—turning to art full-time required a considerable leap of faith. A keen artist since her earliest years, Morace was nevertheless convinced that there wasn’t a living to be made from painting. So she went to college, earning a BFA in Graphic Design then working for several years with a design firm before jumping ship to pursue her passion and paint full time. That was ten years ago, years in which Morace has built a keen clientele that keeps her busy with projects and commissions. Currently shuttling between work on a set of large bird paintings destined for a show in Monroe and a series of water lilies that is something of a back-burner project, Morace finds that inspiration is rarely difficult to come by. “For me it’s simple,” she says. “I paint what I like. I’m just lucky that others like it, too.” 

See more at leahmoraceart.com or riveroaksartscenter.com. This month, Leah Morace will be profiled on LPB’s Art Rocks, the weekly showcase of visual and performing arts hosted by Country Roads publisher James Fox-Smith. Tune in Friday, May 11 at 8:30 pm, or Saturday, May 12 at 5:30 pm, across the LPB network. lpb.org/artrocks.

This article originally appeared in our May 2018 issue. Subscribe to our print magazine today.