Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leanna Kotter. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Leanna, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I first knew I wanted to pursue a creative path when I took a humanities class during college. The assignment was to create three images a portrait, landscape and a product piece. It was so enjoyable working on and creating these assignments. My professor shared a slide show of the best images and mine made the cut. I was thrilled! So much so that it led me to switch my History major to study Art and then I went on to study Fine Arts in Photography.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Here’s a little about me, my work and my mission. I am a fine arts nature photographer. I say fine arts because I create images simply for their beauty. My work is focused on capturing the rich colors, light and compositions of nature. What sets me apart from others is that I don’t edit or alter my images other than exposure corrections if necessary. I shoot in beautiful lighting which creates beautiful color and my images have a soft, impressionist, painting like feel. On my website you’ll fine my tagline “Colors of Nature by Leanna Kotter” and my galleries are categorized into colors and seasons. I believe that color, nature and light can heal, inspire, calm and move us.

I got into my creative works because of a humanities assignment to photograph while earning my degree. My photos were displayed by the professor and I was proud of his recognition, and thoroughly enjoyed the assignment. I switched my major to study art and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Photography in 2009. I’ve photographed ever since graduation in various areas. First in editorial work for a couple of years as well as portraiture, however my path has taken me back to my first passion which is creating fine art.

My art is on display online through Fine Art America and can be printed in various mediums, matted and framed. One of my proudest accomplishments is that a woman from Stanford informed me that she was purchasing my art to hang in a women’s pregnancy clinic for babies with heart problems. I was deeply touched, moved and honored that my art would be on display and hope it has brought beauty, light and healing to them.
Keep sharing your art! You never know who you may touch!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I was studying photography during college, I was working on my senior bachelor of fine arts show for the next semester. I was especially discouraged after attempting to go photograph daffodils in the strong wind. It was making it impossible to get a clear image. I thought about packing up and leaving, but a thought came to me, “Why not capture the wind”. So I took several exposures and blended them together (a process I no longer use), along with a longer exposure and created these impressionistic moving daffodil pieces.

I share this because, my resilience to not give up shooting because of the weather actually drove me to find a solution. I went on to create many wind photos that were on display in my senior show named Images of Time. This show featured different aspects of time and my daffodil pieces showed the audience what wind can look like in a photograph, a piece of time.This is what art is all about for me. To explore stay resilient find solutions and never give up. Have an open mind and get out there and keep creating!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating something that didn’t exist before. I love capturing a piece of nature that stands out to me. No other person can recreate your image or your style. I suppose they could try but no one can see or create the exact same way as me. I have something to share that no one else has. Sometimes we may think that, so and so has already photographed that and mine will never look the same or that good etc. Well you’re correct on one thing, it will never look the same as theirs and it shouldn’t. As far as not looking as good, beauty is subjective.

I thoroughly enjoy creating beautiful photographs and that sounds so simple but creating is the most rewarding aspect for me. I also really enjoy it when others purchase or comment on my work but even if they never purchase a piece or comment on it, the most rewarding part is creating that piece. I would never stop creating just because a piece doesn’t sell or get a response. The best thing you can do for yourself is create the art for your sake. Create what you love and what you would buy and display. Create what brings you joy! Your tribe will find you and be inspired.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leanna-kotter.pixels.com/

Image Credits
Leanna Kotter