Artist Interviews 2025

Leigh Weinberg aka. Lawful Nature  
By Julia Siedenburg



A gifted artist whose whimsical ceramics and illustrations capture the magic of nature and imagination. Through Lawful Studios, a name inspired by her initials and her love of Dungeons & Dragons, Leigh brings to life charming creatures like curious bats and funny frogs, blending storytelling, humor, and craftsmanship into art that celebrates the spooky, the sweet, and the wonderfully wild. Her work feels like a gentle spell — one that invites us to see the world with wonder, mischief, and a touch of fairytale magic. I adore all of her pieces and if my apartment would not be already filled with art and trinkets, I would fill it with this adorable bat. I am so grateful to have found Leigh and I enjoyed talking to her so much. Now it is your turn to dive into the wonderful world of Lawful studios. Enjoy, dear reader.



Why is art so important for society?

I think the word “art” on its own is something that’s up to interpretation. What art means to me might be wildly different from what it is to someone else. Personally, I think that art is the entire backbone of our global society (big opinion, I know). Art is what fuels culture, infrastructure, entertainment, and so much more. Sometimes it seems like people hear “art” and think it’s just paintings, sculptures, or nice things to look at (and they’re right). I think it’s also a lot more than that. Pottery, design, dance, fashion, music, movies, etc. are all kinds of art, sure. But art is also in architecture, planes, advertising, even those mass produced IKEA bowls I eat my breakfast out of every morning. All those things were initially thought up and created by someone. Art reflects our history more deeply than just dates and facts; it shows us our values through different times, in what we loved or hated or feared. So for me, art is important because it’s literally what makes our society, a society.



Who is your biggest artistic inspiration?

I HAVE SO MANY! A lot of my inspiration comes from the media I consumed when I was little: the Serendipity books that were illustrated by Robin James, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble, Shel Silverstein’s stories, the list goes on. Also, like a lot of kids who grew up in the early 2000’s, I loved the whimsical and beautifully animated movies that were being made at the time. I’ve always loved stories and all the different ways they can be told, and I think that’s reflected in a lot of the artists I look up to. Woody Crumbo, Esao Andrews, Martin Wittfooth, Jim Henson, to name a few.



Tell us what Lawful Studios means to you and how you came up with the name.

I started Lawful Studios sometime around the U.S. Covid lockdowns, I knew I wanted to start an art business and had no idea how I wanted to brand myself and my work. I was painting a ton at the time and I knew I’d be jumping back into ceramics as soon as possible. I didn’t want to limit myself with a business name that was just “ceramics” or “art”. What if I want to write a book in the future? That could get confusing. Also, Leigh Ann Weinberg Art just didn’t sound good to me, so I worked on a name that would include my initials for my maker’s mark and work signatures. I also was playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons at the time and liked that the alignment system for a character’s personality, you had “lawful” “chaotic” and “evil”, so I thought, “LAW, lawful, why not.”

Lawful Studios is me, it’s all the different parts of me with all the wildly different ideas and directions I’ve gone with my work. I think it gives me a lot of freedom with where I want to take my art and my business in the future.



I love all of the fun characters you have created. Especially your bat artworks. Where do you get your character inspirations from?

Sometimes I know where they come from and sometimes they just kind of show up. My bats started popping up a few months after I spent a night in a national park in Utah; I was sitting out under the stars with some hot chocolate having a grand old time and thought I was seeing some really dumb birds flying around in the dark, and then I realized it was bats! I’d never actually seen them out like that, I didn’t realize how erratic they look when they’re flying (I kept joking that they looked drunk). They bob and weave and dive super chaotically when they’re trying to get a bug, it was just really cool to see. When I finally got some time at home to relax I felt a really strong need to draw some bats, and eventually this little character kind of materialized. It goes the same way with most of the critters I make, I see one out in the world doing whatever weird animal thing it’s doing, and I get fascinated. I was watching hummingbirds fight over some nectar in the spring, noticed that they move with their beaks kind of like tiny rapiers, and I just wanted to draw little fencing hummingbirds (still working on that one). I don’t have a better way to explain it really, it kind of just happens, and it’s pretty fun when it does.



Your ceramic work gives your work a playful touch. Give us a glimpse into your ceramic process. How long does it take from the idea to the final product?

Ceramics take a long time, I’d say I generally take around 4 weeks to get things made from start to finish if I’m moving at a normal pace. I like to make my work in batches, so I’ll usually throw around 20 mugs at a time, get them all prepped with whatever other pieces I’m wanting to make, and work on only those until they’ve been fully painted, fired, and completed. I usually will make the pots first and figure out the designs second, but I normally have one or two new designs in mind that I want to try. I don’t like making the same exact thing more than twice so there’s always moments of me going “what if I tried this same frog design in this different color, and maybe with this texture instead of what I just did?”

There’s never really a set destination when I start, just a general idea of where I want things to go. This way of doing things doesn’t always work out for me but I find it really exciting, challenging, and fun. I guess my work has a playful touch because I’m actually just playing around all the time (professionally, though, very professionally). Even pieces that don’t turn out well end up teaching me something.



Please tell us a bit about your background and upbringing.

I grew up in Texas with my family. Most of my life was spent horseback riding, going to school, and working on little art projects. I went to a Montessori style school up until I was in highschool, and sometimes I lovingly refer to it as a cult but I don’t mean it, it’s mostly a joke. But my school was all about nature, recycling, and self sufficiency. We did a lot of out of classroom learning, learned how to farm and garden and got to dig around for arrowheads and do all sorts of interesting things. I started getting into all kinds of art when I was in middle school, from writing to photography to drawing, and every week I think I changed what kind of professional artist I wanted to be. When I was 16 I went to a really cool program at an arts college and realized I really wanted to pursue art as a career, and things just kind of developed from there!



The majority of your work features whimsical animals as your subjects. Do you feel that living in Texas and owning animals of your own is what makes you feel so drawn to nature?

I think growing up around animals has had a big influence on my draw to nature. I’ve always kind of felt like animals were more interesting than people, so living somewhere surrounded by wildlife and my own pets seems pretty natural for me. We always had a ton of animals in the house when I was little so I think my life would feel very empty if I didn’t have some creatures running around, doing creaturey things.



Halloween seems to be a big influence in your work. What makes you feel so comfortable in that world?

I just love Halloween! Everyone gets more fun around Halloween, you get to be creative and go full out on costumes, decorations, food, whatever you want. There’s no judgement around it. Halloween is like the one holiday where you can be as low key, crazy, or spooky as you want. As someone who loves spooky things all year round and always wants an excuse to wear glitter, It’s just a time when I feel most at home and accepted. I think all of that just naturally flows into the things I like to make.



Your work can be seen on prints, plates, vases, and cups, which gives them not only a decorative function but also a very practical one. Which is your favorite way of creating your work? Do you have a favorite piece?

I like making mugs and decorative, large platters the most. I think I’ve just had so much practice with them at this point that the process feels really streamlined, clean, and satisfying. I don’t know if I necessarily have a favorite piece, but I love the ones that surprise me when I pull them out of the kiln. Or the ones that I impress myself with on a technical level.



What are your plans for the future? Do you have any shows planned?

I don’t have any shows planned at the moment, I did a bunch this last year and it was very busy! I’m looking forward to slowing down for a few months and exploring some ideas that I haven’t been able to make yet.