Today we’d like to introduce you to Leni Paquet-Morante.

Hi Leni, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In the fall of 2018 I became a self employed, full time artist and occasional educator, a move which was fueled by support from family and friends. My studio is close to home and I’m there nearly every day. My work now encompasses image making across media (painting, printmaking, drawing, and sculpture), selling my art at festivals, social media marketing, keeping on top of business paperwork, and engaging with opportunities to grow through residencies, grants, and exhibitions. I’m very excited to have a solo exhibition coming for 2025 at the Princeton University Art Museum’s Art@Bainbridge Gallery in Princeton, NJ. Pending a title (curators are hard at work!) it will run from July 19th to November 2nd, 2025. You can find and follow that exhibition on Instagram @princetonu_artmuseum and my Instagram @lenimakespaintings

I first made paintings during high school in Maryland, continued my art education in California for a few years, then moved to New Jersey in 1984 to learn bronze casting techniques. In the early 90’s I earned a BFA at Mason Gross School of Art and then worked in an art gallery for a few years. Between 1994 and 2018 I raised a family, renovated two homes, participated in volunteer work for PTA, BSA, and local art organizations, and ran a small art framing business in my basement. When I took a job outside the home again in it was as an admin for an architectural metals manufacturing company. After more than twenty years away from the easel, I began making landscape paintings again during a camping trip in 2012.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’ve learned that a road that seems rough and meandering in the moment actually looks smoother and more direct in hindsight. I’ve been honest and followed my instincts for my art, my life, and in business, so while there have been challenges along the way, they’ve led to better understanding for going forward.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In most ways this question will be answered by others over time. In the last seven years I’ve worked across several media including paintings on canvas up to seven feet square, ink drawings as small as 6″ square, monoprints, and bronze sculpture. To simplify it, I make landscape paintings and drawings outdoors, and make invented landscape works in the studio. I believe that this variety of approaches to discerning and translating the world has led me into a more intuitive place. My intent as an image maker is to investigate and be inspired by the natural world, to create through curiosity about materials and mark making, and to think about how different approaches can inform each other. For example, a residency in 2023 to make large monoprints pushed my ideas about painting forward quite a bit. I’m proud of having followed my instincts to take those leaps forward. I hope that I am known for being honest in life and fearless (working through doubt) in the studio.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I try to be ready for when opportunity or circumstance presents itself, which I think is being ready for luck, good or bad. I know that there have been times that I was seeking something and I could have given up because it didn’t seem to be working out (bad luck?) but that I kept at it or reconfigured my stance and eventually met my goal (good luck?)
In the end, I feel very grateful to be where I am right now, and for the many things that have come together to make that happen.
Shout outs to: Johnson Atelier Studio Program, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Grounds For Sculpture, Artworks Trenton, Arts Council of Princeton, Vermont Studio Center, and Peters Valley Artist Residency, my collectors, my husband who has the patience of a saint, and to my kids who learned patience from their dad.

Pricing:

• Paintings range from $1,200 to $32,000

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lenimorante.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lenimakespaintings/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lenimorante
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leni-paquet-morante-ba85b0b