Retired art professor still working on his craft

How to Go

What: Works by David Leach

Where: Southminster Presbyterian Church

7001 Far Hills Ave., Centerville

When: Continues through March 10

More info: (937) 294-4518, www.sminster.com

Oakwood resident David Leach has been to the south of France, but he still draws inspiration close to home, like Houk Stream in Friendship Park. He is showing 16 works at the Southminster Presbyterian Gallery in Centerville.

“I had a big retrospective at Wright State in the spring of 2011. There were a total of 125 works in that show that included many figurative works,” said Leach, who retired in 2003 after 30 years of teaching printmaking, drawing, and Albers color at WSU. “It covered almost 40 years of professional work, all the way back to my graduate days.”

That would have been at Ohio University, where he earned his MFA. He is a member of the Dayton Printmakers Cooperative and Dayton Visual Arts Center.

He was born in Evanston, Ill., and has a bachelor of arts degree from Bucknell University. During his teaching years, he took a one-year sabbatical from ’82 to ’83, in Provence, France, and had a “Studio in Venasque,” the title of one of his works in the show.

“It was a very meaningful year. I worked on both landscapes and still lifes,” said Leach. “When I returned home, those evolved into studio images that bordered on abstraction. The threshold works were more geometric in nature.”

Two that will seem familiar to those knowledgeable about local art are “Garden Plot I,” and “Garden Plot II.” These large-scale screen prints have been shown at Rosewood Gallery in Kettering. He’s also showing works from a woods series he created in the ’90s. “Michigan Woods” is a small 12” x 12” oil on plywood that appears to be a fusion of realism and abstraction.

“His art fascinates me; I really enjoy the printmaking, and I think he does an excellent job of that,” said SM gallery coordinator Jeanne McIver. “He also does a great job representing nature; I particularly like the images of trees.”

Leach served as chair of the art department at WSU from 1985 to ‘89. His artwork has been published in a book of poetry, Wanderers and Other Poems by Gary Pacernick. His work is in collections at the Museum of Modern Art, a library at Yale University, the Cincinnati Museum of Art, and Dayton Art Institute, among others.

“Since I’ve retired, I enjoy having more studio time,” Leach said. “I also do volunteer work in the community.”