Leah Leitson, artist
Functional ceramics is the strong throughline in Leah Leitson’s illustrious career. After 20 years teaching full-time at Warren Wilson College, Leitson has retired from responsibilities as a professor and is pivoting back to full-time studio practice. She is proud to have been named professor emerita and plans to continue her commitment to teaching. “At Warren Wilson, I taught students to throw, slip cast and hand build,” Leitson says. “I taught glaze chemistry and firing processes—virtually everything to do with clay.” She would tell her students to be disciplined in their art-making practices, or their skills would get rusty. “I recognized this advice each time I would begin again in the studio during my allotted breaks from the academic calendar,” she says. “Now I am able to get in the flow of working and see my ideas evolve more seamlessly.”
Leitson’s early passion for ceramics was nurtured at John C. Campbell Folk School with Lee Davis and at Haywood Community College with Gary Clontz. When she began to feel that the marketplace was dictating what she could make, a fellow potter encouraged her to apply to Alfred University, the NY State College of Ceramics. She knew she was ready to push herself, learn new ways of thinking and working, and expand her horizons. A BFA in ceramics led to an MFA in ceramics at Louisiana State University, offering her the opportunity to teach at the college level. She is a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and the Piedmont Craftsmen, and has participated in residencies around the country and abroad.
“My work draws inspiration from 18th- and 19th-century decorative arts, especially silverware and Sèvres porcelain,” Leitson says. “I also admire plant forms found in nature, which influence my art. I aim to combine these elements to create a cohesive vision.”
She has taught workshops at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School, Penland School of Craft, Odyssey Center for Ceramic Art and Southwest School of Arts and Crafts, as well as in Italy and Israel. Maintaining workshop teaching is something she looks forward to in this next phase of her career. In September, she will be teaching at La Meridiana International School of Ceramics, in Tuscany. “With workshops, I am able to teach students who particularly want to study with me,” Leitson says. “They come to work with porcelain, learn the techniques I use and hear my thoughts on why I make what I do.”
A wide array of Leitson’s porcelain, from sauceboats, candle holders and pitchers, to baskets and bowls, can be seen at Mica Gallery.
Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue, Bakersville. The gallery is open daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 12-5 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more at MicaGalleryNC.com, and follow on Facebook at Mica Gallery NC or on Instagram at micagallerync.
