An Artist Who Inspires- Arvie Smith

Arvie Smith (born 1938) is a nationally recognized African American painter based in my hometown of Portland, Oregon.

Arvie Smith, Ease on Down the Road, 30x22

There is a nice little bio of him here on the Hallie Ford Museum website, where he is having an exhibition from January 22- March 26th, 2022.

Smith's work is so, so, so many things. 

Arvie Smith, Dem Golden Slippers, 2007 68x68

Some words I think of when seeing his work:

Arvie Smith, Steppin' Out, 30x22

Beautiful

Sad

Ironic

Tragic

Funny

Sensual

Alive

Courageous 

Sharp

Glorious   

 

 

The figures in his paintings shift from being vivid individuals, to embodying biting racist tropes, and back again.  He celebrates Black culture and tradition, and in the same image crams racist symbols from the larger, white dominated culture. These images live side by side in the same painting, which is what I imagine it may be like for African Americans every day, all day long.

Arvie Smith BestMan 2016 72x60

As a "nice white lady" my impulse is to avert my eyes from the ugly racist images, and yet, Arvie Smith's paintings are just so gorgeous, so funny and alive, I cannot help but bask in them. I must look and look and look. 

Arvie Smith, Honkie Tonk, 68x78 2015

Seeing these paintings on your tiny phone or desk top will in no way indicate what it is like to see them in person. They fairly leap off the wall at you, and they seem to pulse with color and light. 

His website is here: www.arviesmith.com

Arvie Smith Scare Crow 2016 60x48

Arvie Smith, Trial of Tears 68x60

Arvie Smith 68x60 diptic right

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…?

 

The Making of "Collared" - the Final Piece

As I described in my last post, my technique for developing my collage paintings involves multiple steps. It starts with a drawing, then moves onto a small collage sketch on illustration board, then onto the large final piece on wood panel.

In my last post I shared with you as I made the drawing and then went onto the collage sketch. In this post I made three short videos about the making of the large, final version of "Collared".

Please excuse the film and sound quality of these videos - I'm still learning how to produce them! Here is a picture of the piece at the stage it was in when I made this video.

The Making of "Collared" Take 1! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

Who is Leland Bell? A great American artist who started out as an abstract painter and moved onto figurative, narrative painting. (Not to be confused with the other Leland Bell, a Native American painter who shares the same name.)

Leland Bell, "Three Figures with Butterfly" 1979-82

After working on it for a few hours, I followed up with a review of my decisions. 

The Making of "Collared" Take 2! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

This is the final video where show ways I have resolved certain issues, and new decisions I have to make. 

The Making of Collared Take 3! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

And here it is! The final piece is done. Email me for purchasing information.

Leslie Peterson Sapp, "Collared" 16"x20" $950.00

The Making of "Collared"- a Work in Progress

As many of you know, my technique for developing my collage paintings involves multiple steps. It starts with a drawing, then moves onto a small collage sketch on illustration board, then onto the large final piece on wood panel.

During the past week I participated in a facebook/instagram challenge put on by my art business coach Cory Huff at The Abundant Artist. Because of this challenge I created three short videos of myself discussing creating of my newest collage sketch for a piece I will call "Collared".

Here are all three videos, (each one is about 2 minutes long) along with pictures of the sketch at it's various stages.

 First, here is the image itself. I was attracted to the woman's collar - hence the title! I also find that the word has many, somewhat uncomfortable meanings and associations which I think helps add depth to the image.

Next, here a is one of two drawings I did of the scene, trying to simplify and create order of the image.





As you can see, I made the collage sketch while at the beach for a long holiday weekend. Maybe this is why I appear so jovial.
Making of "Collared" collage sketch, take 1 from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

This the first stage of the sketch:

Making of "Collared" collage sketch take 2! from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.

Next I made a big decision about color. In the first picture, the table tops in this bar are tan colored. This tan color is my go-to color choice for table tops. But making"by route" choices is the downfall for a fine artist! The purple-taupe cools the image down and creates a mood.

In the final video, I talk about some of the last adjustments I need to make to feel "right" about the finished sketch.

The Making of "Collared" take 3. from Leslie Peterson Sapp on Vimeo.
And here is the final! (Maybe! I am still wondering about that wine bottle.)

Now I will move onto the final piece, which will probably 16"x20".

 (BTW, this collage sketch is also for sale! It is 4"x5" and is $150.00)