Block

A classic "hard boiled" scene.

2019 Leslie Peterson Sapp Block II 38x48

The man is a reporter or a writer. His office in a rundown dockyard neighborhood that looks out over the harbor with its docks and warehouses. A single ship is coming in. He is alone, but in the corner you can barely make out his coat and hat, hanging on a coatrack, which almost appears to be a person or a ghost. Is it someone he is writing about? Investigating? Pining for? We don’t know because his back is a blank wall.

I combined collage, drawing and painting in this one, trying to capture the effects of moonlight on water, glinting off a glass ashtray. The palm of his hand glows orange as if he is holding a lit match or cigarette. 

Another, smaller version is also available. This one has no collage elements, and the color is slightly softer and nuanced. 

2019 Leslie Peterson Sapp Block 24x32

 

 

 

Search

The spy is being spied upon.

2019 Leslie Peterson Sapp Search 48x40

A young woman is being witnessed as she has snuck into an office at night, perusing documents on a desk. The green glow of the desk lamp illuminates her black jacket. Her profile and veil are silhouetted by the hall light shining through the office door window. Windows within windows, spies spying spies, rectangles framing one another, frames within frames. 

What she is reading, what information she is hoping to find, who is she spying on, and who is spying on her? What will her fate be?

New Year's Evolutions 2020

So, the earth has orbited another graceful ellipse around our sun, and once again I take this time to take stock of the year that was, and set intentions for the year to come.

But of course, this year has been like no other. It will go down in history as one of the craziest, horriblest, nastiest no-good rotten years. 

ornament by www.plumdandy.org

We have all lost something this year; loved ones, income, opportunities, travel plans, the simple joy of congregating, or the privilege of having faith in our institutions and compatriots.

Through this difficult time, I have made a practice of counting my blessings each day. Sure, my art career took a hit. But I have plenty, I am surrounded by loving family and friends, I am safe and healthy. I am indeed one of the lucky ones. For this I am grateful. 

The Year of the Pivot

Boy howdy, we all had to pivot, and my artistic path was no exception. For some time now, I've been cruising along, avoiding change. Then Covid hit and I was forced into it. Here is the list of all the new things I did this year:

1. I invested in an art business class by Alyson Stanfield at www.artbizsuccess.com Through working with her I have rebranded my website, had more fun with the language I use when talking about my work, upped my social media use, and, as you may have noticed, wrote more blogposts!

2. I taught myself a whole new medium, printmaking. Again, as the economy has contracted, my hope is to have a wider array of price points to appeal to a larger audience.

3. I have set up my first online store so I can sell some of my work directly to you.

4. I had a major exhibition “Story Without a Plot” at RiverSea Gallery. Along with the regular preparations for a show, I took a crash course in online communications, producing a live video recording of the opening and an online artist talk. These videos are preserved on my blog here.

5. In response to Black Lives Matter, I made a commitment with a few friends to learn more about racism, and how I unwittingly contribute to white supremacy by my own lack of understanding. As you can imagine, this work has been unpleasant and difficult, but I am so glad I have the opportunity to learn and to hopefully be part of the solution in my own small way.

Perseverance

If there is anything my new-found middle-aged wisdom has taught me, it is that without perseverance success is impossible. I have committed time, money and effort into my career with no immediate results. However I've got the feeling I am headed in the right direction, and I am truly excited by what lies ahead!

I would like to thank all of you out there who have supported me over the years, and I dearly hope that my efforts have brought at least a weensy bit of levity and inspiration to you.

I am sending you all warm thoughts and hopes of good luck and a Happier New Year.


PS. Alyson sent along a wonderful article by Rosie Spinks: 2020 Will Never End Unless You Grieve It. It helped me have more awareness about the collective emotions we have about the year that has been. I hope it does the same for you. Love to you and yours.

Backlight

 Although the man looms large in the picture, the woman seems to dominate somehow. Is the man leaving or just arriving? Is he being sent on an errand of sorts? Is there an agreement between them, or is this a confrontation? There is a sense of urgency- is it inspired by passion or fear?

2019 Leslie Peterson Sapp Backlight 38x48

There are two previous versions of this general image entitled Egress and Egress II

In this video I discuss how I developed all three from the original inspiration from the classic film noir "Nightmare Alley" through several sketches, to multiple complete images.  

2017 Leslie Peterson Sapp Egress 16x20

2017 Leslie Peterson Sapp Egress II 38x48

 

Art in the Time of Covid

I have been fortunate that my life has gone fairly smoothly during the Covid-19 crisis, despite upended expectations and uncertainty about the future. Despite it all, I have an exhibition coming up on August 8^th at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon!

As is the case with every art show there is a lot to do, accompanied with the anxious hope that the opening will go well. Will it be well attended? Will there be any sales? But art in the time of Covid has brought these typical concerns to a new level.

Riversea Gallery has reopened with the changes that all business now require, such as masks and social distancing (fortunately it is a very large space!) But this opening is going to be like none I’ve ever had before. Attendance is impossible to predict. The normal wine and snacks will not be served. And this time there will be extra efforts made to share it all on the web. Watch for videos uploaded onto my Instagram account, maybe even Facebook live. Like so many of us, I am frantically ascending the steep learning curve of online technology!

Additionally, I will provide an artist talk, but this time it will be virtual, probably in the form of a Zoom call. I will provide a short talk on exhibit, then open the “room” up for questions.
Although the opportunity to interact in physical space will not be there, there are some terrific advantages! For one, you can participate from your home, and if you are not presentable, you can block out your video camera and still participate, grubbies and all!

I will be keeping you all apprised of links and times to participate in my newsletters, social media and on my website home page.

New Year's Evolutions

Like many of you, my year has been filled with successes and also some setbacks.

One of the upsides to my setbacks is that I have a lot more time on my hands and my life is more in balance. A balanced life is supposedly a good thing. But in the U.S., being “too busy” is a point of pride, a dysfunctional way in which we feel we are important, that we are “getting somewhere”, that we are “making progress”, that we are relevant. For many of us, being overworked and under rested is a status symbol. It gives us the illusion of success.

I'm not a person who makes New Year's resolutions, but each year at this time I do take stock of the year that was, and set intentions for the year to come. So as the old year turns and the new year dawns, I am asking myself what “success” means to me and what does it look like?

Since I do not need to make a living from my art, I have the latitude to define success anyway I like. But this fortunate circumstance creates its own pitfall.

My friend Kelly Williams often asks; “what is your fear?” Mine is to be considered a dilettante.

Merriam Webster:
Dilettante
1 : a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge : dabbler

My great fear is that I will not be taken seriously as an artist. This translates into a vague array of circumstances that I desire; a certain number of galleries, a certain number of shows, a certain number of sales. Ambitions that are vague and unconsidered have a funny way of driving me in ways that are often unsustainable and inappropriate to my more healthy desires and actual circumstances. So I am taking some time to evaluate my desires and create appropriate goals.

Will I actively search for more representation, or is that appropriate to my artistic output? Will I develop a technique that is quicker and less laborious, or is my slow pace of artmaking something I can indulge in, and simply adjust my expectations to be in line with it? Shall I go back into the intaglio printmaking I dipped my toe into last spring? What if I were to branch out further into woodblock printing? How would more printmaking affect my connection to my audience? Would it make my art more accessible?

These are some of the possibilities I have rambling around in my head. I am so grateful that I have the blessing and the luxury of being able to fulfill my life dream of being an artist. I look forward to sharing with you the paths I take, where it leads me and the art that results from it all.

I wish you a felicitous New Year!