This past month I had a particularly enlightening trip down memory lane, inspired by the sale of a favorite piece from a previous series.

Athena Stays the Dawn ©lesliepetersonsapp

Athena Stays the Dawn was done for a small series based on The Odyssey. It was done for a specific show, and after it was done I decided to go back to my work with film noir. But I have been inspired by classical literature and mythology throughout my artistic career.

When in college I did a series of art based on Shakespeare’s Richard III- I was so enamored with Sir Laurence Olivier’s movie I decided to create paintings with the characters in different contexts and times. 

Richard III College work by Leslie Peterson Sapp

 

When in my 30’s, I created work based on mythology from ancient Greece and pagan Europe.

The Green Man ©lesliepetersonsapp

Offering ©lesliepetersonsapp

I love and enjoy observational painting, but I seem compelled to tell a story with my art, to create a narrative. I am driven to explore and share the landscape of my imagination. The sale of Athena Stays the Dawn brought back memories of all the ways I have used art to tell stories. It seems that the act of telling a story is more important than the trappings of time and place and specific characters. 

It has been said that film noir are modern day myths.

Vacancy, hand painted intaglio

The characters have become archetypes in our collective imagination. 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 an undying fact of what it is to be human. 

For now, I am entirely caught up in the dark labyrinth of film noir. But who knows what stories my future art will tell?

 

If you are interested in seeing my work based on The Odyssey, visit this page on my website.

If you want to read posts about it, here are some links to my blogposts about it.

My New Series Based on The Odyssey 

Why the Odyssey? 

The Land of the Lotus Eaters

Penelope, the Matchless Queen of Cunning

The Song of the Sirens!  

Athena, Telemachus and the Origin of the Word “Mentor”

⁠Georgia O'Keeffe is one of those rare artists who is a household name, whose work is instantly recognizable. She is known, of course, for her flower imagery, and her depictions of the American South West landscape. But she also did glorious, imaginative citiscapes.⁠

The Hotel Sheraton with Sunspots

New York Street with Moon

Radiator Building

⁠
In my newest piece, involving a man, reading a newspaper up against a building, I am thinking a lot about these images, and I lifted ideas directly from them, particularly this one here:

Georgia O'Keeffe, Ritz Tower, 1928

This piece, Watch, is still in process (though it seems to be close to being done). When I decided to add the lighted windows, I was taking a huge artistic risk and it changed the whole piece. It is The Ritz Tower by Georgia O'Keeffe that has been guiding me through.

Watch is 20x40, and has collaged newspaper, as well as collaged windows.

You can see the blow by blow process of making this painting on my Instagram, Facebook or, yes, even Twitter.

Watch, July 20, 2021

Watch, July 28, 2021