Dawn Leigh
San Francisco, CA
Artist and storyteller crafting fine art collages from recycled materials, inspired by marine life, ecology, and collective memory.
MessageCollection: Tide Keepers
Tide Keepers is the meeting place of my story and the ocean’s story.
Growing up on the North Coastal shores of San Diego in the 70s and 80s, I learned early—through public conservation programs like I Love a Clean San Diego—that the ocean is something we are entrusted with. The Pacific became my first teacher, shaping my imagination, my values, and eventually my art.
Long before I had a name for it, I navigated school as an undiagnosed dyslexic. I learned slowly, absorbed deeply, and built every skill like a turtle crossing long stretches of sand: with patience, persistence, and an unshakeable inner rhythm.
Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare became a quiet truth in my life. While the world raced ahead, I learned to trust the turtle’s pace—steady, grounded, and committed to the long journey.
Aesop’s The Tortoise and the Hare became a quiet truth in my life. While the world raced ahead, I learned to trust the turtle’s pace—steady, grounded, and committed to the long journey.
Tide Keepers grew from that same philosophy.
Through layered collage made from reclaimed paper, I tell the stories of sea turtles and other marine species whose survival depends not on speed, but on endurance and adaptation. Each work is both a personal reflection and an environmental call—an invitation to slow down, look closely, and remember that resilience is built one steady step at a time.
Through layered collage made from reclaimed paper, I tell the stories of sea turtles and other marine species whose survival depends not on speed, but on endurance and adaptation. Each work is both a personal reflection and an environmental call—an invitation to slow down, look closely, and remember that resilience is built one steady step at a time.
Recognized internationally, the series has been featured in the UNESCO-endorsed Ocean III Virtual Art Residency and profiled in Novum Artis Issue 011 magazine, coming November 2025, affirming its role as both artistic expression and environmental advocacy.
