Artist Series 2025 | Cecelia Leddy aka 'Teeny Botanist'
Cecelia Leddy, who goes by the artist name Teeny Botanist, has a bio on her website that describes her work as focusing on “connections between people, places, and nature.”
And the minute you meet her and her warm and effervescent personality makes you feel like you’ve known her forever, it all makes sense. Connecting is clearly her superpower.
Cecelia Leddy, aka 'Teeny Botanist' outdoors and doing her thing.
Originally from Toronto, Ont., Leddy is a painter and illustrator who has won awards for her works in lithography and silkscreen. She currently lives in the Rocky Mountains of Canmore, Alb., and works full time as the cultural development coordinator for the town of Canmore. On the side, she creates art, sometimes in the most unlikely places, like on a bear-proof garbage bin, a coffee label, or, in this case, Wagner Custom skis.
It doesn’t take a psychology degree to understand what inspires her—her work is color-drenched interpretations of what she finds right out her back door. When she’s not working or creating, she’s backcountry skiing, hiking, climbing, and doing anything outside with her adventure dog, Indy.
Flight Risk by Cecelia Leddy
We caught up with Leddy recently to ask her about the fun animal graphics she created for our Artist Series skis. Here’s what she had to say.
Wagner: What brought you to Banff?
Leddy: I did an artist residency in Australia for printmaking where I lived for a year, which was very cool to get paid to be an artist at a very young age. I ended up finding a job in art administration in Banff and they asked me to move within a week’s notice. I saw a picture of Lake Louise, and was like, that’s pretty. I’ve been here ever since, for 8 years.
Reel Fly by Cecelia Leddy
Wagner: Did you always know you wanted to be an artist?
Leddy: I have always loved art. It’s been a part of my childhood and upbringing. I think I always gravitated towards it. My grandmother was an artist, and I remember her giving me my first art booklet and teaching me how to draw trees. Her watercolor paintings were all over my childhood home. When I was in school, I wouldn’t always ace the book reports, but I sure as hell aced the cover art.
Wagner: How do you find the time for your art while working full-time and doing all the things outdoors that you love?
Leddy: It’s a lot to balance. I feel like when I’m mentally open to new art projects, the opportunities just pour in, and when things settle down, that’s okay too. And that is a privilege for sure because if I were full-time, I would feel the need to constantly hustle, but for me, I can really enjoy what I do and choose projects that feel right for me. It feels like a real accomplishment to be an artist, a cultural producer, a skier, and all these other things that I get to be. A younger me would not have imagined that. That’s my biggest accomplishment—being an artist and everything else that I am.
Rutline by Cecelia Leddy
Wagner: Where does your artist name Teenybotanist come from?
Leddy: I came up with it when I was reconnecting with my creative practice in the pandemic. The things I was working on were so different from my past work, so I felt like I needed an artist name. I am 5 foot nothing, so that’s the teeny, and then botanist is the interest in plants. It became like my alter ego and I like having that as a part of who I am but not all of who I am. It also helps me own my artistry.
Wagner: Tell me about the graphics you made for our skis.
Leddy: I don’t know where the space theme came from, but I love it. My little astro animals. We’re always playing in the mountains, skiing over frozen streams, buried trees and all these little habitats. I thought these would be a nice homage to the wildlife that live and exist in the places we play in. I also wanted to create a ski that I’m proud to be on!
Wild Ride by Cecelia Leddy
Wagner: Have you received a pair yet?
Leddy: Yes! That ski arriving on the doorstep feels like something fully me come to life. I love every element of it. Being able to ride on my own artwork is honestly an artist career highlight for me. It marries the things that I love—being outside with friends in a beautiful place with my own artwork. Knowing I’ll be able to have fun on my art is the coolest thing for me. It means so much.
For more of Leddy’s work, go to her website, teenybotanist.com, or follow her on Instagram @teenybotanist. If you choose her graphics, tag her in your socials when you’re having fun on her art!
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Article by Kimberly Beekman
Kimberly Beekman is the former editor-in-chief of the late, great Skiing Magazine (RIP), and a longtime editor of SKI Magazine before that. She currently uses the title of “freelancer” as a beard to ski powder all over the world. She lives in Steamboat, Colorado, with her wonderful daughter and terrible cat.
