Leigh Steson Schoch
Leigh’s paintings are realistic and contemplative, often with a hint of nostalgia for life as it used to be when she was growing up in rural Maine and Nova Scotia in the 60’s.
The classical training Leigh received at Bob Jones University has grown with her and is evidenced in her refined techniques and compositions. She also had the privilege of being mentored by Darell Koons who said, “An artist must know something about his subject or he will surely have difficulty painting it.”
Leigh often begins a painting en plein air and finishes it up in her studio. When she works in the great outdoors, surrounded by God’s infinite creation, she loses track of time and is often unaware she is getting cold or rained on. When people pause and really look at Leigh’s artwork, it is her hope they feel the same joy and peace she felt while painting a brisk day at the seaside, the rushing of a waterfall, or a sparkling day at a lake.
New England offers timeless and enduring riches of inspiration, often unspoiled by progress. The Hudson River School of painters in their spirituality will always be a source of knowledge. To stand where the White Mountain and Hudson River painters stood and sketched is a privilege. She is always learning from them, but recreates the views with her own viewpoint and style.
Leigh lives and paints in the lakes region of New Hampshire, but her artwork has made its way as far as the American west and Nova Scotia and is in many private and corporate collections. People that purchase her paintings most often have a connection to them. They say they feel like they are really there, standing in the scene.