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 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)