LESLIE PETERSON SAPP - blog

LESLIE PETERSON SAPP

Atlas

2/25/2026

This is the first blog post introducing my project Atlas — a series grounded in personal historical research. It explores time, lineage, and culture, while also delving into spirituality, religion, and art.

This could turn out to be quite a long project!

My intention is to document this process as I go along. If you would like to see any blog entries about this project, go back to my blog landing page, OR look for the tag "Atlas" under Categories in the right column of any blog page.

Links to Other Posts About Atlas

In addition, I will continually update this page with links to blog entries about Atlas listed below.

The Dillabough Banner

The Witches' Pop-up Party

How Much is Enough?

Experimentation: Cyanotypes and "Parchment"

The Background for Atlas

The Sun’s Nocturnal Return ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

When I created my Archeology Art series, I chose the subject for each piece on a whim- whatever archeological find happened to strike my fancy.

Throughout the ages, people have used art to express their collective spiritual beliefs. So, of course many of the archeological finds I was inspired by reflected this.

But whenever I made art centered on Northern European artifacts, another layer of intrigue was added.

Though I had a very general idea that most of my ancestors were from Northern Europe, I began some basic genealogical research to get a more precise picture.

I became captivated by the idea that one of my ancestors may have actually seen some of these sacred objects. What forms of art and belief might there have been in my ancestral past?

Seahenge ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

The Structure of the Series

My goal is to research my ancestors and the places they lived, and transform what I uncover into a new series, comprised of stand-alone paintings and an artist book, which would emulate the form of an atlas.

Below are a few images of the beginning framework of my "Atlas"— the skeleton, you might say.

Experimentation: Cyanotypes and "Parchment"

2/10/2026

My vision for what Atlas will look like continues to slowly, slowly become more focused.

I have finished a couple of pieces, but mostly I have been doing research and experimenting with materials and methods.

Cyanotype of lace doily on taupe paper

Different “tones”

Because this is a book, time and sequence are an element I am working with.

I hope to achieve the ability to change the “tone” going from page to page, so that the viewer will have a varied experience while going through the book.

I will do this by using color, materials, and variations in text font.

Cyanotypes in the Dead of Winter

Cyanotype is a type of camera-less photographic printing process. It involves painting a chemical on paper (or cloth, or even glass,) then placing something on that paper and exposing it to UV light, such as the sun. Whatever is exposed to the light will turn a gorgeous Prussian blue.

Cyanotype by Christine So

Often people will place flowers or other objects on the paper to create a simple, beautiful design.

Others will print photos on clear paper to create a haunting photographic image.

Lush Peonies by Claudia Hollister

Simple enough, yes?

No!

I tried my first experiments near the winter solstice when UV rays are at their weakest.

Furthermore, I tried it on a cloudy day.

Things didn’t go according to plan.

(However, I did manage to make this “mistake” into a solid finished piece. I leveraged its qualities by adding painted text and an ornate frame pattern.)

Practice makes... okay, not Perfect, but at least better!

I experimented a bunch with colored papers, and playing with the application of the chemical to create different effects.

Distressing Paper and Making "Parchment"

My vision for Atlas draws from the look and feel of old books, field notebooks, and timeworn documents. This is a popular aesthetic and there are about a billion YouTube videos on how to make materials look aged, a process called "distressing." Most of the tutorials are for making journals and scrapbooks- in other words, crafting.

When I was in undergraduate school, a "serious" artist using crafting techniques was anathema. Oh, the horror! The line between “craft” and “art” has long been debated, yet it remains a barrier that is classist and frankly gendered.

So it is not without trepidation that I allow myself to be inspired and taught by the many very talented crafters out there, who so generously share their skills.

Coffee baths, wrinkling, ironing, treating with glue, roughing with a serrated knife, inkpads, so many techniques to explore.

"Parchment"

In this project I am actively exploring the concepts of belief and faith. To me, nothing says religious orthodoxy like a medieval manuscript. So I began searching for a way to make paper that would look to me like old parchment.

Real parchment is made from animal skin.

I learned that in England, there is one parchment producer using the traditional techniques and tools - very cool video of it HERE.

Parchment was laborious and expensive and was largely replaced by paper about 1500.

My parchment is rice paper, treated with a combination of arcylic medium, water, and instant coffee.

I then glue it to another distressed piece of paper, but only around the edges.

I have been experimenting with different pens and paint to see how they reacts to this unusual surface.

Working in Concert

As I said, I am aiming to have different styles and moods interweave throughout Atlas. My concern is that all these styles hang together, while also varying widely.

I have been not only playing with styles and materials, but the order in which they will be placed in the pages. I am doing this by using a lot of tape! Nothing is cast in stone (or glue) yet.

Below is a 2 minute video of me flipping through what I have done so far. Some of the images are well developed, and some are merely sketches.

Remember, there is a lot of tape involved!

The Witches' Pop-up Party

12/28/2025

For my new series and artist book Atlas, I explore time, lineage, and culture, while also delving into spirituality, religion, and art.

For the first few pages, I revisit the adventures of my younger self, searching for meaning and engaging in a number of inspiring and enlivening communities such as New Age and Wicca, and attempt to depict a fanciful vision of these pursuits.

I envisioned a pop-up page.

Pop-up books are a whole artform in itself, and I am just beginning my first attempts at integrating them.

First, I needed to make a pop-up mock-up to see how it works.

When I got that down, I created a mandala-like shape using a stencil. I utilized a number of iridescent and interference acrylic paints to make the sparkly effect. Then I cut out bits of it to make it lacey.

Solving the Witch Problem

I really struggled with how to paint my fanciful witchy-women! It seemed the more I worked on it, the worse it got!!!

So I started looking online for examples and kept running into these adorable pictures of women's circles from the early 1900's- the height of the Spiritualism Movement! So I thought, "Screw it! Why not just trace it?" And I did, and I love it.

Unfortunately, I was so involved with my project, I neglected to take many work in progress pictures. So here is my finished result.

I cut out the dancing witchy-women, and all the trees. I painted the trees a bluish black and glued them down. Then I applied my mandala.

But of course, in order to appreciate a pop-up page, you have to see it move! Below is a video of me turning the page.

You may notice that after the pop-up page, I turn to another page with a similar image. This page is a work in progress, and I am still developing the concept- it is inspired by the left-overs from this finished pop-up page.

How Much is Enough?

12/17/2025

When I created my Archeology Art series, I chose the subject for each piece on a whim- whatever archeological find happened to strike my fancy.

The Sun's Nocturnal Return ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

Throughout the ages, people have used art to express their collective spiritual beliefs. So, of course many of the archeological finds I was inspired by reflected this.

But whenever I made art centered on Northern European artifacts, another layer of intrigue was added.

I became captivated by the idea that one of my ancestors may have actually seen some of these sacred objects. What forms of art and belief might there have been in my ancestral past?

My goal is to research this, and transform what I uncover into a new series, comprised of stand-alone paintings and an artist book, which would emulate the form of an atlas.

How Much (Research) is Enough?

Though I had a very general idea about where my people are from, I began some basic genealogical research to get a more precise picture.

Genealogy, I quickly learned, is a rabbit warren of branching paths I could easily lose myself in! Each branch of the tree leads to another, and another, and another. How far and how deep to go has been a real balancing act.

So far, I have done basic research on the four main branches of my tree. Along the way, I have become obsessed with mapping.

I have even created an interactive Google Map marking each ancestor’s birthplace, which you- yes you, dear reader- can explore yourself below!

Click to set custom HTML

Having done all this work, I needed to get real about actually producing artwork!

On the one hand, research is a legitimate and necessary aspect of making art with real depth.

One the other hand, when are you researching, and when are you AVOIDING?

Each artist must sense this in their own way, on every step of the journey.

The Canopy Program

10/27/2025

I guess you could say I’ve retired from being “retired.”

I’ve been at a crossroads with my art career, and I want to make work that is personal, honest, and something only I could create. I was looking for a program that could help me bring my work up to the next level, and now I’ve found it!

The Canopy Program is a year-long mentorship program with a rotating roster of six faculty-mentors who work with a cohort of 10 artist-students each(that’s me.)

While two of the groups are based in New York, four of them are entirely virtual, which is why I am able to attend.

My faculty-mentor is Amir H. Fallah, whose bold narrative paintings resonate with my desire to tell stories with my art.

The backbone of the program is that each of us in the cohort will provide support and critique to one another under the guidance of Amir.

In addition, there guest artist mentors who provide critiques or classes on subjects such as art history, theory, research and writing, professional practices, and independent study.

I’m very excited to begin! With the experienced mentorship of Amir, visiting artist faculty, and insights from an my cohort, I’m ready to forge ahead in this next and most exciting stage of my creative life.

I'm Magical! 14x11 ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

Travelogue: The Perfect Set Up- Crete, Santorini and Croatia

7/12/2025

It was a looooong trip.

All in all, we traveled on nine airplanes, two rental cars, and a boat. It was just shy of a month.

In case you can’t see it, this little fold out feature reads: Athens-Crete-Santorini-Plitvice-Zadar-Split-Milna-Hvar-Vis-Mljet-Korcula-Dubrovnik-Athens-Home

Seeing that this is an artist blog, I will stay on the topic of art and art-making. But, I do have a photo-album of the trip on my personal facebook page HERE.

What's On Your Bucket List?

While I loved the whole trip, seeing Santorini and the ancient frescoes of Akrotiri have been on my bucket list! Those of you who have followed me for a while know that many pieces in my Archeology Art series are based on these same frescoes. Seeing them in person was truly a thrill!

If you would like to read more about the frescoes of ancient Thera, read my blog entries The Saffron Gatherers: Delight Amid the Ruins and The Adorant- Large and Small.

Art-Making While Traveling

Most artists I know (at least, most female artists I know,) lay a little guilt trip on themselves. They plan to travel and they pack some art supplies, telling themselves they are going to make art and have a deeply creative, spiritual travel experience. Then they don't do it, or do it only once, and they beat themselves up for not being a "real artist."

This was me.

I even wrote a blog entry about it a few years ago entitled My Vacation From the "Shoulds".

2024 sketch

Part of the problem was the way I have labeled myself. I had always thought of myself as an "observational painter." I don't know why I thought of myself this way, but I did. So, when I went on a trip I would haul out my little watercolors or whatever and try to paint what I saw. But it always seemed like work to me, and it was a bit draining. Not exactly inspiring.

But I don't do that anymore. I no longer put myself in a box.

I accepted that I really don't want to paint my surroundings at all.

Last winter I went to Mexico, and created my own sketchbook to bring with me. (You can read and see pictures HERE.)With newfound freedom I doodled and sketched and collaged and scribbled notes.

What is ironic and revealing is that I ended up making art about my surroundings quite a lot, only instead of being straight representation, it was about what I experienced, what I saw, and how I thought and felt about it. So much more than just a picture.

The Perfect Set Up

Another barrier to art-making while traveling is finding your perfect little set-up.

This looooong trip wasn't a relaxing stay in a Mexican resort. I couldn't just hunker down with a bunch of stuff, spread out and go for it. I had to travel light, compact, and be able to pull my art stuff out of my suitcase and put it away again easily.

First, I had to make the perfect sketchbook.

In this blog entry "Cool Little Travel Sketchbook" you can see what I made before I left. It is about 6x8", and I used hinged keyrings for a binding so I could lay it flat. I could also add or switch around pages as I went.

Then, I had to make my art supply set up.

The black container is a semi-rigid zippered box that used to contain attachments to a now-defunct chirogun. In it I had three small ziploc bags with:

watercolor pencils and a waterbrush
various pens and pencils
two large acrylic markers and the all important glue stick!

Also included was a snap-off exacto blade, a small smoothing tool, and a pencil sharpener.

I also had two larger ziplocs; one was for an 8" gridded ruler and my collected ephemera, the other held the sketchbook.
(The only thing I forgot was a hole-punch!)

As I went along, I gathered tickets, maps, brochures, etc. About every three days I would take a break, pull out my stuff and immerse myself. I was interested in keeping a general chronology, and found I was about 3-5 days behind in any one location. So, for instance, I would work with what I had collected in Zadar three days later in Split. I even worked for several hours during our home-bound layover at Heathrow airport.

The result is a combination of collage, doodling, drawing, and journaling.

When I got home, I worked on the last few pages. Then I created the frontispiece and put fabric on the covers.

To be frank, I am not quite sure what to do with this.

It was created under limiting circumstances, and so when I look at it, I see many pages that could be improved. And yet if I go back into it and improve it, it is no longer an artifact of my trip.

So, I suppose I must allow it to be as it is, and present it to the world in its imperfect perfection.

Below are a few images of some of the more interesting pages. Below that, you can see a video of me paging through the book and unfolding a few pop outs as well.

Video of Greece and Croatia

(8:25 minutes long)

A Gift to Myself-an Astrolabe!

5/21/2025

What the heck is an astrolabe?

That's what I wanted to know.

For my Archeology Art series, I created a painting entitled The Ba'al of Motya. It is inspired by an ancient Phoenician temple complex on the tiny island of Motya, off the coast of Sicily.

The painting is an enchanting combination of the archeological site as it is today, along with references to the wonder of the spiritual environment it once embodied.

Archeologists found a temple complex oriented toward significant constellations and planets. They found remnants of a statue of Ba'al, a god widely venerated in the ancient Mediterranean world.

At the center of the site lies a shallow pool, believed to have been used to reflect the night sky—an element which was paramount to this seafaring culture.

There is a lot going on in this piece, and some of the aspects of it, such as the lay out of the temple complex, are depicted in ghostly white lines. To read more about this piece, go to my blog entry about it, HERE.

If you look closely at the lower left of the painting, there is a diagonal feature in pale white line.

This was found by archeologists among the ruins. It is a small, brass pointy-thing.

This, I learned was an alidade, which is a part of a navigation and timekeeping device called an Astrolabe.

How long astrolabes have been in use, and what forms they have taken over the millennia is not clear. Most surviving astrolabes are from the medieval and renaissance eras, which is interesting, because the temple complex on Motya is much, much, much earlier, like about 1500 years earlier.

Here is an astrolabe made in 1574 CE, now housed in the British Museum.

A Gift to Myself

And now here is MY astrolabe!

I bought it from Wavytail, "maker of Astronomical, Mid-Century & Aviation Goodies." It's made of laser-cut wood, with a clear, acrylic rete.

Let me be absolutely clear: I have no idea how to use this thing.

I have always struggled with ciphering, numbers and complex instructions. I even have a learning disability called dyscalculia! But, the way my special mind works (remember the crazy timeline project? What about my new, old typewriter?) is that I enjoy learning most by jumping into things and messing around, sort of like a child playing in a ball pit.

The Night Sky

Many of my paintings include depictions of the night sky. Sometimes I look up, and I realize I know nothing about it at all.

My hope is that by playing with my astrolabe, I will get a different sense of what it means to be in this world, stuck on this planet as it whirls and hurtles through infinite space.

Cool Little Sketchbook

5/20/2025

As I said in my post Sketchybook 1, I tend to find sketchbooks a bit uninviting, so I have taken to making my own.

This one is a little sketchbook to take on my travels.

It's made up of a bunch of painted paper left over from the collage work I did for my Film Noir series. It's about 6x8 and is bound on the short end.

Below is a short video of me making the book. When the video begins, I have already created the two covers from black illustration board and used a hole punch to create space for a binding.

I wanted to have a binding that would allow me to flip the pages completely over, instead of lying flat like a book. So, I tried to make the binding with colorful string. However...

I learn by doing-- I'm making it up as I go along! I had to disassemble the book and change the binding to hinged keyrings, because the string binding was simply not working.

If at first you don't succeed... try, try again!

Look out for a future blog entry about this travel sketchbook after I've filled it up. Who know what will happen?

Structure.

4/7/2025

I am not particularly good at creating structure for myself.

An example of a "doodle" I have been making since middle school.

Though I can be quite disciplined on a daily or weekly basis, creating an overall framework for my actions is something I’m quite blind to.

When I became untethered from the structure of college, I started to drift. Back then I had no conception of the difference between a desire and a goal.

A desire is something you want to acquire or have happen. They are often vague and driven by emotion.
A goal is an objective you want to attain. It involves a plan, which means you must step back and think.

This a common problem for people with ADHD. I was in my early 30’s before I even realized I wasn’t setting goals. Eventually I compared my life to those of my peers and realized I was still living like a 20 year old- having fun, but building nothing.

Then I decided to “get serious” about my art career.

"Analyze" Page 7

I have explored this in a blog entry What's Next? Reflections on a Career in Art. I also made an artist book that explores this a bit more called Analyze. You can see a slideshow of it HERE.

When I got serious, I started by narrowing down my subject matter and style to something I felt might be salable and distinguishable. For subject matter, my love of old vintage snapshots was the perfect choice. To develop a consistent style, I created two image boards:

One had images of art that I admired, but DIDN'T want to paint like.
The other had images of art I also admired, and DID want to paint like.

By doing this, I created a structure for my artmaking.

Then, my buddy Bridget bought me a book by Alyson Stanfield entitled I’d Rather Be in the Studio. Through this book (and eventually online coursework,) I was able to build the basics of running an art business; a website, a newsletter, an inventory database, an art statement, the works.

Through this, I was able to create structure for sharing my art with the world.

The upside was that I was able to convert my desires into goals, and onto achievement! Like a real grown-up!

The downside was that my particular manner of creating structure robbed me of artistic freedom and expansive expression. The work was less about me, and more about my chosen subject matter.

After 16 years, I have proved to myself that I have the ability to stick to something and achieve my goals. But now I want to create art that is more personally meaningful.

It’s been interesting to observe myself without the intense structure of an art business. It is as if I were back in my early 20’s drifting away from the structure college provided me. Only this time, I am more experienced and self-aware. I know I run the risk of simply drifting until I am frustrated by a lack of achievement.

So, I’m looking at some options that could provide me with structure and guidance, probably in the form of a formal mentorship program for artists… but not quite yet.

I feel like someone who is newly single after a long relationship. I don’t want to settle down again just yet. I want to “find myself” and play the field a bit longer.

Sketchybook I, page 26

Order out of Chaos

I am also seeking new influences. I took an online art course by Lorraine Glessner called Mark Making as Practice. Lorraine believes that every artist has a personal vocabulary of marks that is as unique as a signature, and that mark making daily and without objective is the way to find and develop a personal style and expression.

Sketchybook I page 23

Many of the images I’m showing here have been the result of this practice.

What I have found is something I sort of knew, but has become very clear to me: I tend to create art that has a lot of structure!

It’s as if my normally disordered mind wants to create an antidote of order and peace.

Squares, circles, rectangles, and angles seem to pour out of me. They often form the basis of my figurative work as well.

Often, at some point during the painting process I pull out a ruler or a compass, and get a secret thrill of satisfaction when geometric order works its way into the composition.

Lace 40x40 Collage on panel

Paradoxically, I have a condition called dyscalculia, which is a learning disability that results in difficulty understanding numbers and mathematics.

Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.

Analyze page 4c, checkbook accordion book

My Sketchybook

Sketchybook I, Cover

I was recently on vacation in Mexico, and I wanted to keep up a mark making practice while there.

I tend to find sketchbooks uninviting, so I decided to make a sketchbook of my own.

I made a lovely hard back cover with a cloth binding.

Then I collected a variety of paper and some left over painted collage papers. I tore or cut them down to size, then folded them in half to make pages. I used elastic bands to secure them temporarily into the cover. This way I can move the pages around if I want to.

Sketchybook I, temporary binding

Armed with watercolor pencils, water soluble pens, markers, and a glue stick, I set up a place on the terrace of our Mexican vacation spot and worked a bit every day. Some of the images are abstract, and some are references to my surroundings and experience. I wrote text in some pages, mostly not. Some are lovely and sweet, a couple are sad, many are funny. I have a collection of images you can see HERE.

Sketchybook I, page 3

Sketchybook I, page 4

Sketchybook I, page 20

Sketchybook I, page 22

When I got home, I still had space in my book for more work, so I made a “Chapter Two” page, and kept going. I have no intended narrative in mind, yet I still strive to create an arch of experience while making and viewing the book.

Sketchybook I, page 25

My Special Purpose!

This book is a work in progress, and currently I am using it as a tool to process my letting go and rebuilding structure. At the moment, I feel excited, yet overwhelmed by the many ideas I have and directions I could go.

Sketchybook I, page 27

Shall I make art about math, or my dyscalculia? How about astronomy and astrology? Compasses and navigation? I’m also fascinated by the origins of writing. Or I could get more personal and do a book about being an aging female (lots to discuss there!) Of course, there is always mythology and stories from the ancient world. Interwoven is my continued fascination with archeology- but which archeology?

Sketchybook I, page 16

I have so many ideas! Ideas that are more than ideas, they are inspirations, notions, concepts, curiosities, paths, directions, lines of inquiry, journeys, compulsions. All I know is that it is these things, these “ideas” that make life rich and meaningful for us all.

Sketchybook I, page 26

You see? I could go anywhere. Do anything. It’s overwhelming!

Goodness knows where I’ll end up…

Sketchybook

4/6/2025

As I write this, this artist book is a work in progress! I was recently on vacation Mexico. I tend to find sketchbooks drab and uninviting, so I decided to make a sketchbook of my own.

I made a lovely hardback cover for it with a cloth binding. Then I collected a variety of paper and some left over painted collage papers. I tore or cut them down to size, then folded them in half to make pages. I used elastic bands to secure them temporarily into the cover. This way I can move the pages around if I want to.

Armed with watercolor pencils, water soluble pens, markers, and a glue stick, I set up a place on the terrace of our Mexican vacation spot and worked a bit every day. Some of the images are abstract, and some are references to my surroundings and experience. I wrote text in some pages, mostly not. Some are lovely and sweet, a couple are sad, many are funny.

Below is a slideshow of the book. You can watch from beginning to end, or you can pause it and look at the still images by hovering your cursor over it and clicking the "pause" button that appears in the upper left corner.

When I got home, I still had space in my book for more work, so I made a “Chapter Two” page, and kept going. I have no intended narrative in mind, yet I still strive to create an arch of experience while making and viewing the book.

Remember- there is more to come with this one!