LESLIE PETERSON SAPP

The Seed Keeper

3/18/2023

Libraries aren't just for books!

I’m very excited to say that I have been invited to participate in the Lake Oswego Reads program.

The Lake Oswego Public Library organizes this annual, immersive program that encourages all members of the community to read the same book, discuss its message, and celebrate an atmosphere of learning amongst all age groups. Additionally, a small group of artists are invited to read the chosen book and create a piece inspired by it.

This year the book is The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson.

In addition to being an author, Wilson is the former Executive Director for Dream of Wild Health, an Indigenous non-profit farm, and the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance, a national coalition of tribes and organizations working to create sovereign food systems for Native people. Wilson is a Mdewakanton descendant, enrolled on the Rosebud Reservation.

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A Beautiful Mind

1/10/2023

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A while back, I wrote a blog post called “The Poky Little Puppy” and an accompanying email called “In Defense of the Slow.” I talked about how, at 40 years of age, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, Inattentive Type. This realization has helped me to better understand some of the challenges I have had in navigating this life.

But ADD is also closely associated with having a creative mind. Artistic mind, attention deficit disorder, who knows where one ends and the other begins?

Distracted Mind, Artistic Mind

Just like Little Red Riding Hood, my mind is not good at staying on the path. It wanders off and picks flowers, attracted by the next, and the next, and the next more captivating bloom.

I’ve got a terrible memory. I often forget essential aspects of whatever task I am performing. (Recently I set off to buy new glasses, leaving my prescription at home.)

My mind is not organized. Information comes in the form of so many scraps of paper, fluttering about in the wind. Projects or professions that involve any complexity seems like an insurmountable undertaking.

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Evolve or Die!

1/9/2023

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"Evolve or die" is a common quote. I’m not sure I would die if I didn’t evolve, but stagnation is something I cannot exactly live with either.

Since the beginning of my art career, I have had two main bodies of work, which I call “Vintage Snapshots” and “Film Noir.” Now I am commencing on a whole new body of work! I don’t really have a catchy name for it yet, but it is inspired by my fascination with archeology and history.

I made a blog entry almost a year ago entitled “I’m in Love with Archeology.” In it I displayed some sketches, inspired by a book about Sutton Hoo, a famous Anglo-Saxon burial site, depicted in the 2021 movie The Dig. Since that seminal series of sketches, my desire to follow that path has grown and grown, and now I cannot deny it any longer.

My aim is to create art not just about the subject itself, but also about how my mind works, what I find interesting, and why.

Sutton Hoo sketch 2022

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Travelogue: Artistic inspiration in Santa Fe

11/17/2022

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I have just returned from spending a week in Santa Fe, New Mexico with my best artist buddy, Bridget Benton Carwyn.

Traveling is always an inspiration, but it is especially so when it is with another artist in an "art town" like Santa Fe.

Me an Bri at Bandelier

It seems fitting that this being Native American Heritage Month, I found myself immersed in an area of the country that is saturated with, if not authentically Southwest Native American culture, then at least the culturally appropriated version of it.

From the adobe-style buildings, to the textiles, to the silver and turquoise jewelry, regional Native American peoples have created the basis of the “Southwest” style.

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Classic Movie Review Interview

11/9/2022

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I am so happy to say that I have been interviewed by John Cornelison at Classic Movie Review. He read my “Why Noir?” article and realized his listenership would probably like to know more about how film noir inspires my art.

The interview comes as a podcast and a video, both of which are embedded below.

Additionally, John sent me this fabulous T-shirt promoting his work. The image is based on a shot of Jane Greer, playing the notorious Kathy in Out of the Past.

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Travelogue: The Artist Goes to Portugal and Spain

10/10/2022

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For those who love traveling, it can be a tremendously invigorating and inspiring experience.

Why? Because it takes you out of your normal life and, in a certain way, changes who you are. It sort of rearranges your alchemic make up. When you come back, at least for a while, everything looks different.

My husband and I went on a very long trip through parts of Portugal and Spain. People traveling together want different experiences, they seek different things out, and have unique impressions of what they see. So, I and my husband can see the same thing, but experience it differently.

Likewise, aspects of our personalities can experience things differently, as if there were multiple people inside of us who have their own desires and reactions.

How does this work? Lisbon, Portugal

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Why Noir? It's Fate, Baby.

9/19/2022

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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Final Entry!

So, Why Noir?

Being an artist may look like fun, but it is tough.

Putting yourself out there for others to see is perennially disquieting. In order to make it all worth it, the subject and method has to be captivating.

©lesliepetersonsapp Miss Darger II 24x30

I am compelled to tell a story with my art. No matter if it is based on Shakespeare, mythology, or film noir, I am driven to explore and share the landscape of my imagination.

©lesliepetersonsapp The Knave of Swords 30x20

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 undying elements of what it is to be human.

In the words of the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, film noir is "suffering with style".

By utilizing the elastic armature of the elements of film noir, I create art that is charged with longing, adventure, romance, and intrigue. I am able to expand and deepen my skills as a person and an artist, all the while having the time of my life.

©lesliepetersonsapp Circle Mirror 36x36

For now, I am entirely caught up in the dark labyrinth of film noir.

But who knows what future stories my art will tell?

Need more noir?

Check out The Film Noir Foundation, which restores films noir and shows them at their film festivals.

It's founder, the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, is also a host on TCM's Noir Alley, which shows films noir every Saturday night and Sunday mornings.

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

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Why Noir? The Unusual Suspects

9/16/2022

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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #9

Why is Shakespeare still so popular after all this time? It's because his stories and characters are timeless. There have been countless versions of his plays where the settings and characters’ identities are changed to bring new interpretations to the story presented.

The characters in noir are as vivid and fundamental as an archetype. They are so solid they can be dressed up in any outer appearance and still resonate, still express the noir sensibility.

There are a profusion of examples of crime novels that star characters of many kinds, from the famous private eye Easy Rollins, to tough gay guy/investigator Dave Brandstetter.

The themes are universal and can be ascribed to any individual. So, I can change the outer identities of my characters, and it can still be noir.

©lesliepetersonsapp Bars 16x20

The scenes in my artwork are presented without irony and are imbued with an immediacy which invites the viewer to experience the scene as a contemporary moment.

They don’t coyly refer to themselves as being "film noir" or use signifiers to make them seem like cultural artifacts. There is no breaking down of the fourth wall.

It is as if we could walk through the picture frame and become part of the action. If this could be possible, what would we see, and who would be there?

©lesliepetersonsapp Incognito 10x8

©lesliepetersonsapp The Hanged Man 32x18

It is easy for me to depict white, cis-gender women. It’s more of a stretch to depict scenes with people outside my personal lived experience.

But the figures in my work and in my imagination sometimes take on a life of their own, and want to be expressed as they are: male, non-white, queer...

To not follow these impulses would, in effect, be negating their existence.

Whether I handle this successfully is a question I continually ask myself.

The adaptability of film noir characters allows me to enlarge the limits of my understanding and expression.

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

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Why Noir? It's Complicated

9/14/2022

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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #8

When we are engrossed in a mystery novel, the complicated plot tangles we must unravel keep us entranced.

The characters in noir are caught in a web of intrigue and moral ambiguity. Their exploits involve daring and danger, plot twists and betrayals. They usually believe they can manipulate a situation to their advantage over another.

The dream I weave in my paintings is a version of myself who is, in a word: clever.

Very unlike who I really am.

In my artwork, the space can be complicated and sometimes difficult to navigate. The claustrophobic, multi-layered space illustrate the sometimes-turgid complexity of our minds and relationships.

The identity of figures is often obscured, sometimes visually competing with shadows that seem more alive than they are.

The hall of mirrors scene, The Lady From Shanghai

Mirrors, doorways and windows proliferate, creating dazzling illusions, and act as apertures into other worlds. The dark, chiaroscuro lighting symbolizes obscured meanings and secrets withheld.

Like getting into a good novel or movie, my paintings invite you to take time and decipher what is being presented.

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

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Why Noir? The Doomed Romance

9/12/2022

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A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #7

A long time ago, a wise friend counseled me, saying “Romance is about NOT being fulfilled, it’s about longing.”

The characters in film noir practice a lot of bad behavior. They smoke and drink, lie, cheat, extort and manipulate.

I, on the other hand, have developed a preference for a life of minimal drama. Life is too damn short to spend it with worry and strife.

Yet, in much the same way someone may like a good war movie, yet has no desire to engage in combat, many of us achieve a certain catharsis by watching the sufferings of the glamorous figures in a film noir.

My art is charged with longing, drama, sexual tension, taboos, and covert couplings. Like a private eye, snapping a picture through a window, we espy people in places they are not supposed to be, or with someone they ought not to be with.

You could say I vicariously through my own art.

As Phyllis and Walter said in this famous exchange in Double Indemnity:

Phyllis: “We're both rotten.”

Walter: “Only you're a little more rotten.”

Double Indemnity

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.

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Libraries aren't just for books!

Distracted Mind, Artistic Mind

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Final Entry!

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #9

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #8

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #7

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