Leah Mitchell

Leah Mitchell is a painter working at the intersection of the contemporary and historical. Her work is representational in nature, with the goal of creating viewing experiences that tap into the beauty of humanity. In this, she aims to create painted analogies of the lived human experience. Utilizing her own experience and environment as a point of departure for that endeavor. The paintings in her current body of work begin at home, in old houses and contain measures of humor and fantasy. The painted interiors range from the simple to fantastic, peppered with portraits and still lifes, static moments of an environment in motion, life and decay, the ecstasy of entropy.

Leah Mitchell has a Masters of Fine Arts in painting from Northern Illinois University, and is currently working on a Master of Arts in Art History, also at
NIU. Previously, she studied at The School of Representational Art in Chicago, learning the techniques of French 19th Century painting, and obtained a BA in History from North Central College. Her husband and three children and the old houses they have lived in, regularly make appearances in her paintings which are exhibited both regionally and nationally.