Hello and welcome.

Laureate Printing launched in 2025 as a way to share original work in photography, graphic design and other creative endeavors. 

 

I grew up in rural Sabine Parish, the pine curtain of northwest Louisiana, surrounded by farm animals and a large extended family, riding horses and playing in the woods with my brother and cousins. My older sister (today a respected veteran educator) taught me to read and write before I started kindergarten, so I am a lifelong lover of books and stories, letters and illustration.  I knew in second grade at Many Elementary that I wanted to be a writer.  My first camera, a Polaroid Supercolor, was an eighth birthday gift.  Reading, writing and taking pictures are just what I do.  I like working with my hands and I’ve always loved old things – old houses, old pictures, old furniture, old people. 

 

After high school I attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, a beautiful historic town close to home, where I earned a degree in journalism and met my husband. We knew we wanted to live in Natchitoches. I worked at the local newspaper for 10 years, where reporting, taking pictures, processing film in a darkroom and laying out the pages for the press were an all-hands-on-deck operation and the best training possible in multitasking and meeting deadlines.  I then joined the Northwestern State News Bureau, the university’s public/media relations office.  Working in publications fostered an interest in graphic design and I earned a master’s degree in graphic communications.  My graduate thesis and accompanying exhibition were titled “Typography:  The Marriage of Art and Writing,” a history of typography and its role in the advancement of Western civilization.  You can check that out, along with some photo images, in my portfolio.  

 

My husband and I have been married over 30 years and have two adult children.  We are stewards of a 1912 farmhouse on Cane River and a revolving menagerie of cats and dogs. We like to travel and visit new places, but also enjoy being at home, puttering in the kitchen and garden, visiting neighbors, watching the sunset and hanging out with our pets. 

 

Being a maker is a compulsion.  I can’t not do it, whether it’s writing, painting, baking, upcycling paper scraps or curating found objects into interesting vignettes.  I’m fortunate to live in a community of artists, writers, musicians, photographers, master gardeners, craftsmen, food and cocktail enthusiasts, naturalist and entrepreneurs by whom I have been greatly encouraged.  I will introduce you to some of them here.  

 

Thank you for visiting Laureate Printing.  You can follow my social media channels below.  I hope you feel a connection to what you find and visit often. 

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-- Leah Jackson, Creative Director at Laureate Printing

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