Leah Merriman has practiced illustration, painting, drawing and sculpture for over ten years. She began apprenticing under St. Louis sculptor Rudolph Torrini in her high school years and into college. Her works have been accepted to art institutions across the country including Rhode Island, Chicago, Cleveland, and Kansas City. Lately her projects have involved creating illustrations for children's books.
Merriman derives inspiration for her pieces through natural elements and atmospheres combined with her love for the anatomical figure. She spends time gathering components for her pieces through her abundant garden. Music and dancing are essential to her work environment as she often portrays the constant movements and the fluidity of emotions involved in capturing the "state of being alive" through her illustrations.
The joy of living is a passionate theme in the artist's work. She grew up being very ill as a child and later on developed a neuromuscular movement condition. Merriman uses her daily physical struggles to her advantage by distilling the celebrations of her livelihood through pictorial narrative.
Merriman is a native to St. Louis, went to Webster Groves High School. received her B.A. from Webster University and is a licensed massage therapist. She lives in Rock Hill, Missouri, with her husband, cats, one bird and a resilient goldfish.