Meet Leaca Young | Artist and Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leaca Young and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leaca, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I’ve lived many places. When I was young my mom would take us on adventures. She would pack art supplies and forget the snacks. Creativity was so important to her. It was how you expressed yourself to the world.

My husband and I had spent most of our lives in Wyoming. In 2005, we moved our young family to a village in Alaska. Seeing so many new things opened up my creative mind. Zooming in to the textures and colors of nature. I was so inspired to create. We had less distractions living off the road system. More time to create.

Later we moved to the road system, Denali National Park area. There was a group of artists doing an art show and I was invited to join. One thing led to another and here I am making it as an artist, and teacher.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Struggles

1. I feel the biggest struggle as an artist can be our authentic voice. Finding what sets you apart from other artists. Take classes, paint like someone else and you’ll find what you like and what do not like. I’ve taken so many classes to learn different points of view. Eventually I found who I was as an artist. Even saying I was an artist took time, which is silly. Everyone is an artist. We all create.

I’m an eclectic artist. I create in many styles and many mediums because I tend to get bored. I think that is my authenticity…eclectic.

2. Create a lot of ugly art. Ugly art is where you learn the most. So many give up because of ugly art. I learn the most from ugly art. I’ve made some painfully ugly art in my day. I would play this trick with myself where I find one thing I like about my ugly art. That’s where I grow. It helps me see where I went wrong.

3. Slumps are my least favorite thing about being an artist. When slumps happen I try to remember that growth is coming. I’ve never came out of a slump without being inspired by something new. It’s like mental childbirth.

5. Making money as an artist I’ve had to diversify and take risks. That’s stepping out of my comfort zone. The best advice I’ve gotten was to have at least five streams of income. I currently do design work, teach classes, contract classes, sell art and supplies, coach artists. When one money stream goes dry the others flow.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This would happen in the summer unless someone was coming here specifically for the Northern Lights. The Northern Lights are outside on my front porch.

So let’s talk about summer. I live in Denali and our summers are fabulous.

We would go for a bike ride up the Denali Highway and on our way back we would enjoy the view of Mt.Denali to guide us home.

Then we would drive to Tonglen Lake Lodge and have breakfast. They have the most amazing views up there and the food is fabulous.

Then we would walk the shops in Glitter Gulch and go for a coffee and cookies at Black Bear Cafe. Wait, I would add avocado toast to that. They make the best avocado toast. (Women owned and operated)

Then we would drive into Denali National Park. Wildlife and hiking are a must. (Woman owned and operated)

On our way home we would have dinner at Creekside Cafe. They have daily Salmon and Halibut specials and I always order the halibut. So yummy and inspires me to try new was to cook our fish at home. (Two women own and operated)

Denali is full of amazing businesses and a lot of them are women owned and operated. I love bringing my granddaughter to these places to show her she can do anything she sets her mind to.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The Creative Habit, Twyla Tharp

Website: Leacayoungart.com

Instagram: Leacayoungart

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCuGDSwi-CpTkZrD6nk-xyHA

Image Credits
I took them