Meet Leah Rich

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leah Rich a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Leah, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I think I found my purpose by trying a lot of different career paths, trying to fit into boxes that didn’t work, while also nurturing my love of nature and textiles in my free time. After a number of unfulfilling jobs it became necessary to follow my gut and pursue work that I could feel good about putting out in the world. I did some experimenting and discovered plant dyes and fell in love almost immediately.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an artist and clothing designer that uses second hand fabric and plant dyes as my medium. I start by looking for quality cotton in the thrift stores, then scour everything I find, organize it into categories, and use it as material for my projects. I paint and screenprint on second hand clothes to give it a new life. I also teach dye classes and maintain a dye garden where I grow plants for pigments.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Luckily I have gotten a lot of good advice through the years. Firstly, put in the time. Getting better at a skill takes time and reps. Keep working, don’t worry about the ugly pieces, just keep making stuff, putting in the time to improve, to learn, and to have fun experimenting. Second, show your best work. Don’t worry about selling all your old work if you have something new and exciting. It’s also ok to get rid of or remake work from old material. If I have an unsold product that I dyed 2 years ago, I redye it and add more color and interest and I work in a material that can be reused and repurposed, because of this. Third, get out there and meet people and show them your work. Don’t be intimidated by other artists, and don’t apologize for any of it. You can’t connect truly, with people on the internet, you need to meet people face to face, and let them hear your story and see your efforts in real life. It makes a big difference.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. They taught me that becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself and follow your own voice. Its a very grounded approachable book that talks about things that a lot of still don’t talk about, like how to get work done.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

all photos by me, Leah Rich

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