Leslie Ratcliff

STARLA GATSON    |     KELLY MOORE CLARK

Leslie Ratcliff uses acrylic paints to depict the sights of her little Tensas Parish town, hoping to share just how beautiful St. Joe really is. She is a mother, wife, teacher and creator – she hopes to teach her students and children to see the world through a different lens – with a new perspective.

Mile after mile of white cotton fields, Cypress trees standing tall over Lake Bruin, or, if you find yourself there in the early spring months, a few freshly bloomed magnolia flowers are just a few things one might see on an evening cruise through St. Joseph, Louisiana, or while looking at Leslie Ratcliff’s collection of paintings. 

Though she will occasionally work with oil pastels and charcoal, Ratcliff typically uses acrylic paints to depict the sights of her little Tensas Parish town, hoping to share just how beautiful St. Joe really is. After all, she says, if you aren’t really paying attention, you might miss out on something lovely.

“I think that beauty can be found in things we don’t necessarily think of as beautiful subject matter,” she explains when asked what draws her to painting local landscapes. “That’s a little bit of a goal that I have with my art: to find beauty in places we wouldn’t normally think about.”

The scenes of St. Joe make up and influence much of the artist’s work, but like many other creatives, Ratcliff finds herself pulling inspiration from a variety of sources, including others in her field.  “I’m inspired by lots of different artists,” she reveals, specifically citing Austrian painter Gustav Klimt as an example. “I love looking at art; I love going to museums. I also do some religious paintings. Madonna and child is one of my favorite things to paint as well.”

Ratcliff says her interest in art has been with her since childhood. “Any time we had a project in school or anything like that, I wanted it to be the best it could be. I had talent for sure. I wasn’t necessarily head and shoulders above other kids, but I kept working on it and trying new things.”

Her mother played a pretty significant role in stoking the creative fire that burned inside her, Ratcliff explains, though she wouldn’t realize just how important her mother’s efforts had been until years later.

“My mom instilled [the importance of art] in me when we were young,” she says. “She brought us to museums any time we went on a vacation or [something] like that. We were always looking at art, and it became something that, through her, I became interested in.” 

Her high school art teacher also contributed to her curiosity in creating art, she says, as it was during their class that Ratcliff learned painting was what she enjoyed the most. She explains, “Painting just clicked with me, acrylic painting in particular. That was what I was the most interested in. I took a lot of classes in college with different mediums, but I always went back to painting.”

Even though Ratcliff loved creating art from such a young age, her initial career plans didn’t include showing off and selling her own pieces. Instead, she would teach art. That’s how she found herself pursuing an art education degree from Louisiana State University in 2003. 

She began her undergraduate career studying photography but learned fairly quickly that wielding a camera wasn’t what she wanted to do. Then, she tried her hand at graphic design, but that wasn’t a good fit either, she says. Finally, she would up in art education. Combining everything Ratcliff already knew she loved — being around children, working with her hands, and art, of course — it was a perfect fit. Besides, she adds, she was sure a teacher’s schedule would allow her to live out another one of her long-held dreams: being a wife and mother. 

“I enjoyed the art, and thought teaching would be something I would like,” she explains. “I knew that one day I’d want to have a family and work around that, so that was part of my decision as well. I didn’t see myself at that point making art a career.”

Fortunately, someone else held that vision for her. Fast forward to a few years after her graduation from LSU in 2007. Ratcliff’s life was going according to plan — she was married, a mother, and an art teacher at a local private school — when a buddy of hers encouraged her to share a few of her pieces. 

       “I had a friend here who kind of pushed me [and said,] ‘Hey, I’m having a party at my house. Why don’t you bring a few paintings?’” she recalls. “At that point, I wasn’t necessarily the most confident in what I had, but I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll try it.’” 

To Ratcliff’s surprise, people appreciated her work, and that affirmation was enough to motivate her to begin selling her art. “People reacted well, so I tried again,” she says. “But then, there were times — and all artists go through this — where people [thought], ‘Well, that isn’t for me,’ and that’s okay, too.”

Ratcliff doesn’t mind putting her work on display now, but the journey of building her confidence as a creator was long and required a lot of patience. But that makes sense, she says, as mastering anything takes a lot of time. It took years, she reveals, before she fully believed in her ability. 

“When I was in my early 20s, I wasn’t in the place I am today,” she says. “I could’ve quit and said I’m not a good enough artist. But I loved it so much that I kept going.”

The New Iberia native believes patience, dedication, and the courage to put yourself out there are all keys to pursuing purpose, whether you’re an artist or not, declaring, “My message is, if you have something in your life you feel like you’re being called to do, just continue. Keep going. It takes time to flourish into what you want to be.”

And, of course, having pure passion helps, too. Devotion for her craft was a catalyst of Ratcliff’s blossoming confidence, pushing her to continue striking lines of color across the canvas. The thrill of it all, she says, made it worthwhile.

“The creative process is something I feel like I crave,” she explains. “I need to have [it] in my own life. When you step back from a painting and you feel like, ‘Wow, this is pretty good; I can pat myself on the back for this one,’ you have a feeling that…” She trails off before adding, “It’s something I need to have, I guess. I continued for that reason. I had to realize you have to let go of that trying to please people and paint the things I enjoy. For me, [painting] became more personal.” 

About eight years have passed since Ratcliff’s friend asked her to show her work at that party, kickstarting the process of honing her skills, building her confidence, and selling her creations. But coming into her own as an artist doesn’t mean Ratcliff has let go of the career path she started down at LSU. Art education still holds a place in her heart, and she continues working at Tensas Academy, where she has spent the last 12 years teaching pre-K through 12th-grade students. 

Doing so, she says, has only fueled her creativity more, and she assumes any educator would echo her sentiments about teaching: you learn just as much from your pupils as they do from you.

“I get to try things in my classroom that are different from maybe what I would try in my own art, and it’s a lot of fun,” she says. “I’m always teaching them about artists, so I’m learning about new artists throughout the school year.”

Ratcliff hopes every student she teaches learns the same lesson her mother taught her: art is important, whether they pick up a paintbrush, colored pencil, or marker after ending their time as a Tensas Academy Chief or not. This message is one she wholly believes in and is eager to share.

“It’s so important, I think, for a well-rounded person,” she muses on exposure to art. “It helps you see the world through a different lens. That’s important to me, teaching my students and my own children to see things in a new perspective.”