Artist, biologist finds inspiration in nature

The natural world has always intrigued Eamonn Leonard. As a child growing up in Huntsville, Ala., he would often seek refuge in the outdoors which led to an ever-growing fascination with the plants he found there.

"I have always liked plants and being outside. I grew up in big family, I am one of six so it was always noisy inside," he said with a laugh. "I would escape to the yard and I started noticing all the different plants and trees. I became curious about what they were."

That led to Leonard developing a passion for gardening that took him through his high school years. He went on to study horticulture in college, eventually signing on as a biologist with the local branch of the Department of Natural Resources.

"I've been with the DNR for 11 years. It started with a coastal habitat mapping project, which was basically mapping different plant communities in the 11 coastal counties. It was a planning resource for conservation and prioritizing where we focus our efforts," he said. "If you didn't have a map, you would have no idea where to do that. And this got me involved more with invasive species management."

It's become a focal point of his work. Leonard shares information on how these plants impact the native landscape. He also offers lectures and programs through his side project, Coastal Wildscapes, that helps locals learn more about what is best to plant in yards.

"I really do what I can to promote the use of native plants as opposed to nonnative plants, even if they are not invasive. While they are not harmful, the native plants benefit wildlife, especially the pollinators and the birds. We want to re-create the natural food web in home landscapes wherever possible," he said.

His passion for plants also led to other endeavors. In a round-about way, it helped Leonard discover his artistic side.

"I was pretty active with the Catholic church downtown and we wanted to build planters for the front ... but we didn't want them to get stolen so I thought it would be great to use concrete because it's heavy," he said. "That was about six years ago."

"Building the planters for the church really set me on the journey to do more. I just kept playing with it and it's really always changing. I make small planters for window seals, I do stencil work for the pots too," he said.