LESLIE PETERSON SAPP
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Film Noir
    • Woodcut and Etching
    • Vintage Snapshots
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Why Noir?

My Vacation From the "Shoulds"

11/15/2021

0 Comments

 


I'm on vacation, and I'm having a wonderful time. It's a paradise. Beautiful room, white sand beach, gorgeous view. 


And yet, I find myself having a difficult time relaxing entirely. I'm relaxing, but not completely relaxed. I find that I am suffering from a case of the "Shoulds".

Here are a list of my "Shoulds":

- I really need to take advantage of my time here!

- I should make a drawing or painting everyday.

- I should keep posting and staying engaged on social media.

- I should NOT post, and disengage completely.

- I should go I to a deep state of contemplation so I can start developing concepts and imagery for my next body of work.

- I should start collecting words and images for my next body of work.

- I should do paintings of the coastline so I can include coastal scenes in my next body of work.

- Furthermore, I should barely eat anything, so I will still feel okay in my bathing suit.

- I should drink less/more.

- I should swim in the ocean. 

- I should go for a hike/sample authentic local cuisine/learn to paddleboard...

Get the idea? So much to ponder and worry about.

I heard a while back that the word "should" can be very toxic. It is a good exercise to replace it with the word "want" and see what happens.

Actually, I have done a number of my "Shoulds", because they seemed like fun at the time.

But what have I done mostly? 

Mostly, I have gone on a deep dive into some really nerdy books on archeology. 

Yes, archeology is my way to relax. 

- I have two magazine subscriptions (World Archeology and The American Institute of Archeology Magazine).

- I am a fan of Patrick Wyman's podcast, Tides of History

- I watch archeology themed shows on TV and YouTube incessantly. (My favorite, which is not exactly about archeology, is Mysteries of the Abandoned on Discovery) 

So I'm on a geek-fest, learning about how the Proto-Indo-European language, a theoretical language that became extinct around 2500 BCE, was the root from which most of the languages spoken in the world today evolved from. 

What can I say? It's what I want to do.


A bibliography of my vacation:

Three Stones Make a Wall, by Eric H. Cline

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, by David W. Anthony

Tales of Valhalla, by Martin and Hannah Whittock 

Beowulf, translation by Seamus Heaney

The Dig, by John Preston

0 Comments

The Landscape of the Mind

8/5/2021

0 Comments

 

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”

0 Comments

An Inspiring Trip to Greece!

8/23/2018

0 Comments

 
My husband and I took a trip to a place I've wanted to go for a long time- Greece! We visited mainly Napflio and the Peloponnes Peninsula, the island of Hydra, up to Delphi, then Athens.

Some of you may remember that I love ancient history, and that I did a series of art based on The Odyssey. It was sensational to be in and around the place where The Iliad and The Odyssey was conceived, sung, shared, and eventually written down. In fact, we visited the ancient site of Mycenae, which was the palace complex where Agamemnon himself lived and ruled.
The "Funerary Mask of Agamemnon" from Mycenae, housed at The Archeological Museum in Athens.
(If you'd like to see some of the inspiring art I saw during my trip to Greece, check out my post on my facebook page.)
Being in Greece lent depth and richness to my understanding of The Odyssey. One experience I had was the realization that my conception of the space and atmosphere was generalized and lacking in sensitivity. It was fanciful, but vague.
"The Land of the Lotus Eaters" Leslie Peterson Sapp
The sense I have now is the astounding ruggedness of the place, how rocky mountain slopes charge down and continue deep into the sea.
Delphi, Greece
I also did not have a sense of the palette. These parts of Greece are dry dry dry, and the rocks are pale and crumbly. I suppose the pale rock is part of why the sea is so green-blue.
Greece, somewhere between Epidavros and Poros
The artist whom I can think of who really got a great take on what it feels like to be a westerner, idealizing ancient Greece, is Puvis de Chavannes, a French artist active in the late 19th century.

"The Shepherd's Song" Puvis de Chavannes, 1891
"Patriotism" Puvis de Chavannes, 1893

"Young Girls by the Sea", Puvis de Chavannes, 1879
Also, Picasso captured it, perhaps with more individuality and sophistication, in many of his early works:
"Acrobat on a Ball" Picasso, 1901
"Two Adolescents", Picasso, 1906

"Boy Leading a Horse", Picasso, 1905-6
Although I am committed to doing more Film Noir works for the time being, I am wondering what will transpire if I decide to do more Ancient Literature work in the future. One very inspiring object I saw during my travels is a late Hellenistic funerary urn at the Archeological Museum.
Who knows?



0 Comments
    Picture
    INVESTIGATE!
    Here are the hotsheets with the sordid details, the true confessions, and  the inside info on my artistic process. Learn how it all happens right here!


    Not seeing what you're looking for? My previous blog on blogspot can be found HERE.

    Categories

    All
    Ancient History
    Archeology
    Art History
    Artistic Process
    Artist Who Inspires
    Film Noir
    Finished Work
    Narrative And Subject
    Why Noir?

    Archives

    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    August 2020
    August 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Film Noir
    • Woodcut and Etching
    • Vintage Snapshots
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Why Noir?