Studio

Studio

Drawing Table
I’ve always loved experimenting, so I’ve explored many different techniques and media including graphite, pen & ink, etching, watercolor, gouache, colored pencil, oil, acrylic, digital (Photoshop, Illustrator, & Flash), polymer clay, fiber, found objects and collage. I’ve enjoyed them all and learned much from each, and I still have a restless urge to try new techniques. But most of my gallery work these days is a combination of collage and acrylic. Above is a picture of my drawing table set-up. You can see my palette, which I keep in an old tin that can be covered to slow drying, and a few jars of pre-mixed colors of Golden Fluid Acrylic, my favorite paint ever. You can also see the teeny-tiny brushes I love, along with some bigger ones I use mainly for backgrounds and glazes. Just visible at the lower left is the edge of a printed collage piece, glazed with translucent color in preparation for painting.
My studio is stuffed with old books and papers that I’ve found mainly at our local flea market. I especially love 19th-century textbooks and instruction manuals, which can often be had for a dollar or two. I scan texts and sometimes maps and illustrations from these sources, them print them archivally to use as a collage base for my paintings. You can see the way I incorporate these elements in Process.

“The Fulfillment Department” Etsy shop packaging

Studio scene, Etsy packaging area, Leah Palmer Preiss

My husband always teases me when I’m packaging up art for my Etsy shop by calling me “The Fulfillment Department.” I have to admit, I spend a lot of time on packaging. It’s partly an offshoot of my lifelong fondness for gift wrapping, but it’s also very important to me that your art arrives in perfect condition. It’s heartwarming to see how many of my Etsy reviews mention the quality of the packaging!