Canadian Landscape Artist Shelley Leach

I've painted for most of my life and worked professionally as a painter since 2005. While painting remains central to my practice, I’m often inspired to create beyond the canvas, exploring how different materials can exist in more tactile, functional ways.  Adding this section in 2026 to my website is a relatively new step, as I’ve been taking tactile art more seriously and letting it become a larger part of my practice. Painting landscapes is a two-dimensional process. Functional work is different. It exists in three dimensions and lets me work directly with materials that connect back to my paintings. Working with wood, for example, allows me to physically engage with the grain, texture, and bark of a tree, giving me another way to explore these places.
 

 I continue to expand my functional and sculptural work, building on decades of painting experience. These tactile objects are a natural extension of my painting practice. In time, I hope this work will be seen as part of the same vision as my paintings, functional pieces that complement and extend them. This work engages a different part of my creativity. These objects, which I think of as functional art, can be handled, worn, or used — but they still come from the same place as my paintings. It isn’t separate from my painting practice, but another way to explore many of the same ideas in a physical, everyday way.