Meet Shayna Leib

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

Hi Shayna, is there something you believe many others might not?
People always give the career advice: Pursue your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life.

I don’t actually agree with that. I believe in preserving the sanctity of what we love, and if one makes a career out of their strongest passion, it tends to be fraught with issues which can chip away at what is sacred. My mother was a painter, until she did one too many art fairs where people would offer her $15 for a painting that was $40. She had poured her love into her paintings and it broke her. She never painted again.

I say, take your second or third passion in life, and make that your career. The challenges that come from its pursuit will not crush your spirit, and you’ll be able to make more objective decisions in your career. Our first passion in life is imbued with meaning, ego, and love. When the world rushes in to challenge all three, you will be more resilient if you have your first passion tucked away safely, away from a world which might crush it.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As someone who is prone to an agitated kind of artistic boredom, I change things up a lot. If you were looking for a thread that runs through my work, the only one you’d find is my love of color.

My first series, “The Wind & Water Series” delves into the flow patterns of nature above and below the water, using glass landscapes as a backdrop. After 150 installations in this series, I introduced another series: “Patisserie” which explores the dessert culture of France and the US through photo-realistic glass and ceramic desserts. Completely, thoroughly unrelated. Then around the time of the pandemic, I finished writing and illustrating a children’s book called “Finding Figgins” which took 3 years to illustrate. I also introduced a series of photo-realistic oil paintings done in a pop-art style called “The Malcontent” which spells words out with candy. The first one in the series “NOPE” was my response to life during the pandemic.

My biggest challenges come from this issue of switching up my career- no matter how consistent I am in still making work in the WW series which is the most popular. I find that I have to start at square one every time I do something new in another medium because once the world pigeon-holes you into a body of work, it’s very hard to expand. You have to seek out a new audience every time because most people follow the work, not the artist. In today’s day and age of social media where Facebook is dead, you have to “pay to play” on Instagram, and tiktok is not an artist-friendly platform, it can be an extreme challenge.

I felt this the most with my children’s book, Finding Figgins which is the endeavor I poured most of my heart into. Amazon crushed my book’s promotion strategy and demoted it because I used their competitor, Ingram Spark to create my book. This blow was the most devastating of my 22 year career. I was attempting to pivot my career to illustrating and writing children’s books.

Just as my style in glass and ceramics is very laborious and detailed, so is my illustration style. Each illustration in my book took a month to complete in colored pencil (18” x 24” paper). I’m not a smart artist and I can’t do simple. Some days I shake my head at the fact that it took 3 years to illustrate my children’s book when others take a week to illustrate theirs. I’ve never been an efficient artist.

I also bucked the general trend in children’s picture books with Finding Figgins by making it read for adults too. It has a Bugatti, 18 cats, flying penguins, and a hero who loves scuba diving and reading T.S. Eliot to the neighborhood rats. In other words, it’s weird and illustrated like an art book for children. However, not a particularly smart endeavor as an artist.

The challenges we face as artists since the pandemic are different and new. We’re in a no-man’s land as most galleries have gone under, and people are buying more online, sight-unseen. None of us are quite sure what new paradigm will emerge with the gallery presence almost gone, but it will be an interesting change of guard. Many of us are waiting to see what paths will be open to us.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, being from SLO, I would have to take them to the Central Coast. We would go kayaking in Morro Bay, followed by a walk to Daisy’s cafe for coffee, and a trip to the shell shop to comb through shiny things. Farmer’s Market on Thursday night is a must, where we would go to the ax throwing place, followed by the arcade a few doors down on Higuera. For day trips, I’d take them to Pirate’s Cove to swim among the seals, and if it was wildflower season, I’d take them to Shell Creek Road, then California valley, followed by the Poppy Reserve where we would have a whole day of photography excursions.

We would eat at Bayside Cafe, Lassen’s (since I’m one of those natural food people), and go for coffee and dessert at Linnaea’s Cafe where I grew up hanging out. (If that little table overlooking the fish pond is available, that’s where we would sit. If not, I’d give the college kids hanging out there a twenty each to give us that table).

I’d also do a lot of scenic drives, along hwy 41, 46, and Old Creek Road. If it’s around October, I’d take them to pick out pumpkins at Avila Valley Barn, and while they weren’t looking, I’d slip away to go squeeze the chickens.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Stefan Baum. Without his guidance, I wouldn’t have gotten where I’m at today. I was lost when I got to grad school and suddenly had a lot of responsibility as the studio manager. He worked me through a sort of societal- programed-gender- helplessness and showed me I had what it took to build and fix a glassblowing studio.

Website: www.shaynaleib.com

Instagram: @shayna_leib

Facebook: Shayna Leib Glass Art/SNL Design Works Page ID: 229291083790065

Other: tiktok: shaynaleib

Image Credits
3 credits: Biochroma 2, frozen yogurt and macaron: Eric Tadsen