Incognito

©lesliepetersonsapp Incogito 10x8 Acrylic on panel

A voluptuous, glamorous woman leans against the doorframe, silhouetted by the bathroom light. Over her shoulder we see, hanging on the shower curtain rod, a maid’s uniform. 

In conversation about classic film noir, a common subject is that actors and actresses of color were relegated into narrow stereotyped roles, often as domestic servants of white protagonists. But of course, this didn’t just happen in the movies, it happened in real life, too. African Americans had limited opportunities and were often employed as domestics in white households. What individuality was denied or hidden?

I see a dynamic, powerful, sexy woman who has to masquerade as a demure, uniformed domestic by day- but who knows what mischief or adventures she may be involved in after hours.

And... who knows what she may know about her employers…?

 

An Artist Who Inspires- Marc Chagall

Today is the last day of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights. In celebration of this, I am featuring Marc Chagall.

Marc Chagall The Birthday 1915

 Marc Chagall is one of the twentieth century’s most famous artists, and probably the most famous artist that is associated with being Jewish. He is considered a Modernist, a Cubist, a Symbolist, a Fauvist, and sometimes “Naïve” painter, who is also well known for his stained glass windows.

Marc Chagall I and the Village 1911

He was born in 1887 in Belarus, and migrated to France in 1910. He escaped Nazi persecution to the US in 1941, returning to France in 1948, where he lived the rest of his very long life, dying in 1985. 

Marc Chagall The Fiddler 1913

 
His subject matter is wide and free-wheeling, and although he was not a practicing Jew, he wove images of the memories of his Hasidic upbringing in Belarus when he was young.

Marc Chagall Solitude 1933

 I am inspired by Chagall’s work and sometimes wish I could break up space with such aplomb. 

 

I love the air of mystery, sadness, joy, romance and spiritualism that his work combines. Maybe someday I will get there, too!

Aleko and-His Wife Zemphira from an Old Russian Tale

Marc Chagall Blue Village 1975

Marc Chagall The Circus 1964

 

My Vacation From the "Shoulds"

I'm on vacation, and I'm having a wonderful time. It's a paradise. Beautiful room, white sand beach, gorgeous view. 

And yet, I find myself having a difficult time relaxing entirely. I'm relaxing, but not completely relaxed. I find that I am suffering from a case of the "Shoulds".

Here are a list of my "Shoulds":

- I really need to take advantage of my time here!

- I should make a drawing or painting everyday.

- I should keep posting and staying engaged on social media.

- I should NOT post, and disengage completely.

- I should go I to a deep state of contemplation so I can start developing concepts and imagery for my next body of work.

- I should start collecting words and images for my next body of work.

- I should do paintings of the coastline so I can include coastal scenes in my next body of work.

- Furthermore, I should barely eat anything, so I will still feel okay in my bathing suit.

- I should drink less/more.

- I should swim in the ocean. 

- I should go for a hike/sample authentic local cuisine/learn to paddleboard...

Get the idea? So much to ponder and worry about.

I heard a while back that the word "should" can be very toxic. It is a good exercise to replace it with the word "want" and see what happens.

Actually, I have done a number of my "Shoulds", because they seemed like fun at the time.

But what have I done mostly? 

Mostly, I have gone on a deep dive into some really nerdy books on archeology. 

Yes, archeology is my way to relax. 

- I have two magazine subscriptions (World Archeology and The American Institute of Archeology Magazine).

- I am a fan of Patrick Wyman's podcast, Tides of History

- I watch archeology themed shows on TV and YouTube incessantly. (My favorite, which is not exactly about archeology, is Mysteries of the Abandoned on Discovery) 

So I'm on a geek-fest, learning about how the Proto-Indo-European language, a theoretical language that became extinct around 2500 BCE, was the root from which most of the languages spoken in the world today evolved from. 

What can I say? It's what I want to do.

A bibliography of my vacation:

Three Stones Make a Wall, by Eric H. Cline

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony

Tales of Valhalla, by Martin and Hannah Whittock 

Beowulf, translation by Seamus Heaney

The Dig, by John Preston

An Artist Who Inspires- Vilhelm Hammershøi

There is something so very intriguing and mysterious about viewing someone’s back.

A lot of images in my art depict people’s backs. 

First of all, they are interesting visually, because they are the least body-like body-part. They are like a wall, or a blank page. There is an inherent tension created by being in someone’s presence, yet not being able to discern their expression, like they have closed eyes, or are wearing a mask. 

I recently found a postcard I have had for years. Before the internet, anytime I went to a museum, I would buy a slew of postcards to take home with me, because collecting images didn’t just happen with the click of a button.

This postcard says it was produced by The Louvre. This means I bought it around 1998. I’ve had it in my possession ever since. I was drawn to its elegance, simplicity and mystery.

Vilhelm Hammershøi was born in 1864 in Copenhagen, Denmark. His style is distinctive and consistent. His landscape are muted and empty, and even when he painted citiscapes, he found an unusual point of view to express an atmosphere of mystery. But he is best known for his interiors, and the multiple depictions of people’s backs, particularly the nape of a woman’s nape neck.
 

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Rest

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Ida Sitting and Reading

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Interior

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Bedroom

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Ida, Interior with a White Chair

Vilhelm Hammershøi, Figures By the Window

The Saga of "Exit"

It came from Out of the Past-  from 1947, to be exact. This scene from the famous film noir inspired images in my head that I couldn't shake.

 

 

So, in April 2021, I took a video of myself in costume walking down the stairs. Then I created a large drawing from that video. From that I developed a painting... But, like many worthwhile endeavors in life, there were twists, turns, and backtracks along the way.

I love working off of colored, textured grounds. So, in early May, I got off to an interesting start by using purple watercolor and allowing it to drip down the panel.

I sized the image of the drawing in photoshop, printed it out on sheets of paper, and transferred a light image of it onto a panel. Then, using the drawing and the photographs as a reference, I started the painting.

I spent a bunch of time creating a wood grain effect on the stairs, thinking the reddish tone would enhance my purple shadows.

It became clear that something was missing. Something needed to be in the upper left of the composition... I searched about on line and found this awesome exit sign. (Here the name of the painting came into being.)

 

I also "closed up" the space, by making sure all walls, stairs and shadows were touching each other, enclosing the figure in with no way to "escape".

Break time.

This all happened from early May to late June. I set Exit aside. I worked on other projects, such as The Hanged Man and Watch.  

There may have been a beach trip or two as well...

 

 

All the while, I kept looking at Exit out of the corner of my eye... June ended... July ran its course... 

I kept thinking... this could be better. 

It's flat.

It doesn't have the glossy dark depth I had envisioned...

It needs...       blue.

Here I am, paintbrush in mouth, glazing a layer of Prussian blue over my painting. 

I also repainted the exit sign and made it larger. 

I changed her shoes from black to white. 

I even painted over the precious wood grain stairs I had worked so hard on.

Then, after all this, I realized the exit sign was no longer needed. In fact, it had become a distraction. Now that I had all my moody blues creating atmosphere, I wanted the woman to be the focus, as if a spotlight were shining on her. So, using a razor blade, I scratched it out. 

But what about my awesome exit sign? Would I have to change the title of my painting?

With a tiny scrap of red paper and a bit of tape, I was able to see where to put my lovely vintage exit sign.

As I write this, the exit sign has been redone for a FORTH time- ⁠
⁠
Will this be my final move? Is the saga of Exit over once and for all???⁠ 

Finally, finally, I believe it is done. It started in May, and ran off and on until September.

©lesliepetersonsapp Exit

We live in a world of expediency, instant gratification and digital wizardry. But along the way, there has been a growing appreciation of the slow. For example, slow foods, artisanal cheese, vintage wine, and hand-made crafts are all important social and financial movements. 

By sharing the process of my art, I hope to celebrate the slow and deliberate. Just like life, many artistic pursuits take a long and winding road. Part of what makes art, art, is that the artist takes the time to follow that road wherever it leads.

The Poky Little Puppy

This little book was a staple in my house, as it was in many peoples’ houses. It was a book that was used to gently, or not so gently tease me when I was small. 

 I was a very poky little puppy. 

It was an affectionate and perhaps slightly desperate attempt to get me to look up, to focus, to walk faster, and stop dawdling! The rest of my family seemed to be endlessly charging ahead, onto the next, and the next, and the next activity. 

Later in life, about 40 years of age, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, Inattentive Type. Much of my middle age has been spent trying to manage my errant mind with new found understanding, and to making up for time lost drifting through my almost rudderless young adulthood. 

Frustrating, yes, but ADD is closely associated with having a creative mind. No one really knows why. I think it is because all that wandering brings one to unexpected shores and vistas. I heard it once described this way; if one doesn’t think linearly, (marching forward along a path), then one tends to think laterally, that is, back and forth and side to side. 

A curious feature in many folks with ADD is called “hyper-focus”. This is when my normally wandering mind suddenly gets into gear, and I become completely engrossed in one activity for long periods of time. This is what happens when I make art. 

I have come to recognize that I am a slow, deliberate artist. Each new attempt takes a long process of conceiving, sketching, drawing, transferring, painting, maybe collaging. When I am “done” with a piece, I will set it aside for weeks, months, and peer at it as it sits in the corner of my studio. I glance at it over the rim of my coffee cup, send it sidelong glances as I work with another piece. Then, often, it hits me. “It needs this…”

I will go back into the painting, and it will transform, like a make-over or a mid-life crisis. It will deepen and mature. Having that time to let it hibernate and incubate will often make a good piece into a great one. 

So it goes to show that life isn’t always about the next thing, and the next, and the next. Sometimes we need to stop and smell the strawberries. 

One such slow transformation unspooled during the creation of Exit, one of my latest pieces of art. You can read about the creation of this painting here, in The Saga of Exit.

The Landscape of the Mind

This past month I had a particularly enlightening trip down memory lane, inspired by the sale of a favorite piece from a previous series.

Athena Stays the Dawn ©lesliepetersonsapp

Athena Stays the Dawn was done for a small series based on The Odyssey. It was done for a specific show, and after it was done I decided to go back to my work with film noir. But I have been inspired by classical literature and mythology throughout my artistic career.

When in college I did a series of art based on Shakespeare’s Richard III- I was so enamored with Sir Laurence Olivier’s movie I decided to create paintings with the characters in different contexts and times. 

Richard III College work by Leslie Peterson Sapp

 

When in my 30’s, I created work based on mythology from ancient Greece and pagan Europe.

The Green Man ©lesliepetersonsapp

Offering ©lesliepetersonsapp

I love and enjoy observational painting, but I seem compelled to tell a story with my art, to create a narrative. I am driven to explore and share the landscape of my imagination. The sale of Athena Stays the Dawn brought back memories of all the ways I have used art to tell stories. It seems that the act of telling a story is more important than the trappings of time and place and specific characters. 

It has been said that film noir are modern day myths.

Vacancy, hand painted intaglio

The characters have become archetypes in our collective imagination. Similar to the myths and stories of old, the characters are driven by forces larger than themselves and are so very, very human. Often being brought down by their own drives and weaknesses, they are driven by a futile effort to cheat Fate. The themes are an undying fact of what it is to be human. 

For now, I am entirely caught up in the dark labyrinth of film noir. But who knows what stories my future art will tell?

 

If you are interested in seeing my work based on The Odyssey, visit this page on my website.

If you want to read posts about it, here are some links to my blogposts about it.

My New Series Based on The Odyssey 

Why the Odyssey? 

The Land of the Lotus Eaters

Penelope, the Matchless Queen of Cunning

The Song of the Sirens!  

Athena, Telemachus and the Origin of the Word “Mentor”