Katie Brooks is a talented landscape artist from North Carolina, who uses a pretty unusual canvas in her work. Instead of relying on paper like most of her peers, Brooks is collecting leaves in the woods near her home and transforming them into magical works of art that pay homage to their roots.
Brooks always knew she was going to be an artist, but getting there was easier said than done. She spent her childhood collecting leaves and creating art in her family living room, but committing to it full-time seemed like an uncertain and unstable choice, so she took her career in a different direction.
After years of being surrounded by art without actually making it, Brooks decided she couldn’t ignore her true calling any longer. She started painting landscapes on dried leaves, and her signature “100 Painted Leaves Collection” eventually helped her summon the courage to become an artist full-time after her tiny leaf paintings brought her joy that was missing from her life.
Most of her leaves hail from the woods near her home in North Carolina, and she always looks for sturdy, intact leaves with a good shape. She then presses the leaves in an old history book and lets them dry for about a month before prepping them with acrylic gesso and getting ready to paint on them.
