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.

​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

The Night Sky

Births, deaths, a deepening relationship, and an profound shift in identity had thrown my life into complete upheaval. My very sense of self was being torn down and rebuilt. At the same time, for the first time in my adult life, I didn’t have to worry about paying expenses. I didn’t know how long this situation would last, but I recognized it for what it was: an opportunity to really throw myself into building an art career. I wanted to see if I could “make it” as an artist.

Polka Dot 2008 ©lesliepetersonsapp

The Bigger Picture

One of my earliest newsletters!

The world has changed so much over the last 16 years. The economic recession has still left its mark. The wealth gap and soaring rents have affected the economy in meaningful ways. The internet has inexorably changed the artworld. And then there was this little thing called COVID! My art has changed, too. From my initial series of Vintage Snapshots, I moved to the tempestuous world of Film Noir, and then onto my exuberant exploration of Archeology. Over 16 years, I’ve created around 450 salable pieces of art, and sold roughly half of them.

A page from my journal.

Ba'al of Motya 30x24 Acrylic on panel ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

The Phoenicians

Assyrian relief of a Phoenician ship

The Phoenicians were a seafaring people, who founded many colonies, some as far west as Spain. They seemed to have developed innovations in ship technology and navigation. So, the temple complex on Motya had a lot to do with the sea, navigation and the constellations.

The Temple Complex

In the lower right of the painting, I have depicted in white chalk the plan of the temple complex, situated amongst the sinuous lines of a topographical map.

In this plan of the complex, you can see the Sanctuary of the Holy Waters, the Temple of Astarte, and the Temple of Ba’al. All the buildings seem to have special orientations, either to significant stars or other temples in various nearby cities.

In the center of the pool, remains of a pedestal were found, and in a nearby lagoon, part of a male deity statue was discovered. It is believed that this statue, thought to be of Ba’al, once stood on the pedestal in the middle of the pool. Now, a replica of the partially preserved statue exists there, while the original is housed at the Motya Museum.

An Odd Archeological Mistake

The cothon harbor at Carthage

A cothon is an artificial, inland harbor used in the ancient world to protect military and commercial ships. Seems like sort of a stretch, seeing as our pool at Motya is only 170 by 120 feet, but there it is.

They drained the cothon so they could excavate it, but the darn thing kept filling back up with water! This is when they realized this was no dry dock at all, but a spring-fed sacred pool, the centerpiece of an entire temple complex. It is speculated that the pool may have been used to reflect the constellations above, for worship and for learning navigation.

The sacred pool today, with the replica of the statue of Ba'al

Repeating Themes

Ba'al of Motya ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

Tree Burial II ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

Cosmological Seacraft

It all started when I tried to understand the strange “smiley face” at the bottom edge of the original Nebra Sky Disc, an element that I simply could not include in my artistic rendition of it. (Read the blog entry and you'll know why.)

© Kenneth Garrett

By studying various Nordic Bronze Age artifacts- such as rock art, gold votive offerings, bronze razors, and belt plates- experts have been able to piece together a generalized belief system that goes like this:

Nordic Petroglyphs

The reason why I was so intent on following this train of thought was because I was (and still am) confused by the shape of the "solar boat" (smiley face) on the Nebra Sky Disc. It is an almost perfect arch, and yet Bronze Age depictions boats generally have a flat, shallow keel.

Reconstruction plan of the Hjortspring Boat

Sun Spirals

Tree Burial I and II are inspired by an amalgamation of several tree burials from the Nordic Bronze Age, especially one known as Egtved Girl. She was buried in Denmark around 1370 BCE. Because of the conditions in the burial mound, her clothing is in an almost perfect state of preservation. One of the most striking elements of Egtved Girl's burial is her bronze belt plate. It's 6 inches across, and is etched with a tight spiral motif.

Egtved Girl's Belt Plate

My Artistic Process

I usually embark on making a piece of art with a plan. I know, more or less, what I'm gonna do, how I'm gonna do it, and more or less, what it'll look like when I'm done. It's safer that way. Safe, like staying indoors, yet casting furtive, envious glances out the window to see your pals playing in the mud.

The beginning...

Just before I tore it up.

Visual Impressions

What happened next.

I had a visual impression of tearing the sides of the drawing off and mounting it on a 48x24 panel. Once this happened, the piece changed in fundamental ways. Art mediums (paint, charcoal, collage, etc) can be used in two ways: It can be used to create a cohesive, alternate reality, OR it can be used to refer to itself. And once I tore that paper, it no longer became a representation of a tree, it became a piece of torn paper with an image of a tree on it. The abstraction grew from there.

Geometric Tendencies

Since the double-square panel is made up of two 24x24 inch squares, I used my huge compass to describe two circles, each emanating from the center of each square. It looked a bit like a figure 8. The number "8" flipped on it's side makes an infinity symbol.* Led by another visual impression, I was inspired by this tiny painting by Fra Angelico in 1424. It's actually an "S" in an illuminated manuscript.

Madonna of Mercy with Kneeling Friars, c1424, Fra Angelico

Solar Boat Petroglyphs

Simrishamn rock carving, ©SSfPA

Madsebakke-schiff Solar boat petroglyph, Bornholm, Denmark.

I started to add drawings of the petroglyphs around the circles. I also created a boat-like shape, seen from above. This boat-like shape stretches from top to bottom, enclosing the figure of Egtved Girl inside. It is reminiscent of an aureole surrounding a spiritual being. Another tendency of mine is that I want to explain things in a literal fashion. Perhaps it is an artistic failing. OR maybe it's the way my mind works. I really, REALLY want you all to know these are boats. I know they sort of don't look like boats. Let me show you a boat. Enter, the Hjortspring Boat.

The Hjortspring Boat is actually from the Iron Age, but whose counting? It was deposited in a bog as an offering, and it is a somewhat intact boat from pre-Roman (before written language) Northern Europe. It's a good example of what Bronze Age boats were probably like.

Plan of the Hjortspring Boat

I love the graceful, precise elegance of the boat plans. They contrast beautifully with the earthy, gritty textures of wood grain, charcoal, and torn paper. Unlike some of my other pieces, the images in this work are not inkjet prints. Instead, they are hand-drawn tracings of the plans.

Following a Trail

In this series of Archeology Art, I find my inner bloodhound is taking a lead role. Merriam Webster's second definition of bloodhound is "a person keen in pursuit." Keen in pursuit. I am putting aside self-doubt in exchange for beguilement.

Appendix:

Tree Burial I, 60x40 acrylic on panel ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

But a tree trunk coffin is simply split length wise, with its inside hollowed out, like a canoe. The beloved is laid out with grave goods that were meant to assist the deceased in the afterlife. This implies that the loved one is still somehow living in the tree trunk, like a tree spirit. Tree spirits are a world-wide phenomenon. In Greek mythology, the Dryads were spirits of the woodland in general, and Hamadryads were spirits that lived in a specific tree itself. I'm sure I'm reading into this in my own, artistic, unscientific fashion. Log coffins were probably used because of the way they preserved the body of the deceased. But I can't help myself. There is something so juicy about the tree as a symbol of the life/death cycle.

Dryad, 1884, Evelyn de Morgan

The Egtved Girl

The Egtved Girl ©National Museum of Denmark

After excavating the log coffin, they transported it to the museum and very carefully investigated, using the most advanced techniques available in 1921. It was determined that the log coffin had been made in about 1370 BCE. One of the fascinating things about human remains is the often odd, unpredictable ways in which they are preserved, especially when they are in an environment that lacks that great decomposer, oxygen. Often, they are mummified, but the results of this mummification varies from find to find. In the case of Egtved Girl, the hair, brain, teeth, fingernails, and every stitch of clothing was preserved. But the skin, muscles, the very bones, had simply dissolved away, leaving the clothes empty, like someone had been carefully considering an outfit, and had laid their clothes out to look at.

Grave Goods

It hung on a woven belt, and is nearly 6 inches across. It is adorned with intricate engraving, including two bands of a spiral motif. Spirals and circles are symbols of the sun, so it is probable that the belt plate was an expression of the sun worship of the Nordic Bronze Age. (I wrote a bit more about this in my entry about The Nebra Sky Disc.)

My Creative Process

As I mentioned, this piece is on a 60x40 panel. Working large is always an educational experience, and I had the extra bonus lesson that 60x40 is ABSOLUTELY the largest size I can fit into my beloved Kia Soul. I got it in with a quarter inch to spare, with my knees hitting the steering column as I drove.

First, I did an energetic drawing of the Egtved burial, but instead of it lying prone in the earth, I set it vertically, in, or hovering over, a large oak tree. As you can see, I am already contemplating a horizon, and a large circle seemingly emanating from the belt plate.

Next, I painted the tree a dark purplish color, and rendered oak leaves. Here is where I started to integrate images from other tree burials. On the right, a plan of the site Borum Eshøj, drawn by Konrad Engelhardt in 1875. On the left, a photograph of workers excavating the Guldhøj site in 1891.

After this, I reinforced the circular shape that seems to hover over the entire scene. How do you think I drew such a large circle? (Best Christmas gift ever!) At the bottom of this entry, you can see a fun video of me using this big beauty!

Life, Death and Wonder

Tree Burial I, 60x40, acrylic on panel, ©Leslie Peterson Sapp

Video of My Cool Compass...

Ah, the life of an artist.

Lately, I have been feeling like I’m going down a stream, with one foot on one boat, and one foot on another boat. I have started my new Archeology Art series. I have also had a very busy show schedule, all focused on my Film Noir Art series.

A tiny doodle from my journal.

Look! I'm somebody!

Over four months, I had FIVE different shows. In total, I had 4 group shows and a solo show. I spoke on stage. I was filmed by our local community television station. I had an artists salon. I won an award. My art was on the cover of an online magazine. All the while, I executed a social media BLITZ about each and every bit.

With my new series, I feel particularly sensitive because I’ve never done anything like it before. The result is, I've totally stalled out on my social media posts.

Behind the curtain...

Social Media- a blessing and a curse.

My Instagram Page

Nevertheless, for an artist like me, posting regularly is almost like a portfolio in itself. It lends "legitimacy" to an artist, like a calling card, showing prospective collectors or gallerists that you are active, responsive, interesting, and aware of your public. There is even a rule of thumb about having a certain percentage of "work in progress" (WIP) content, finished artwork content, and "slice of life" content to have on your social media page for maximum engagement. Typically, I document the intimate details of how I develop a piece of art with photos and videos, and post them on social media as I go along.

A Social Media "Sabbatical"

How about if I let it all go for a while? What if I trusted my "audience" will still be there, even if I am not constantly trying to grab their attention? What if I gave myself a break? Remember when? Remember before social media when we went about our days without that constant buzz in the background?

Libraries aren't just for books!

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.

The Seed Keeper

My inspiration and interpretation

©lesliepetersonsapp The Seed Keeper

Set in a pristine snowscape, a grove of trees is in the distance. A solitary set of footsteps lead into the empty expanse. A pictograph of a house, almost like a child’s drawing, is simultaneously an envelope, and hovers like a specter over the scene. In contrast, warm and earthy tones depict a cob of corn laying on the earth, seeds huddling in the soil, and a cornstalk reaching toward the sun.

She meets and marries a white farmer, John Meister when she is very young. John is a deeply flawed human being, who nevertheless is able provide Rosalee with a place of rest, security, and unconditional regard, even love. The scene in the book that created the most vivid visual image for me takes place early in their marriage. On a clear, cold day, she attempts to walk through deep snow to a grove of trees across a large field, but cannot manage it. John silently provides snow shoes for her. With dogged persistence, she is eventually able to reach the grove of trees. About this same moment in the narrative, in the pantry of John’s old, crumbling white farmhouse, Rosalie finds an envelope full of seeds that John’s mother had stashed many years before. In time, through trial and error, she learns how to grow a garden.

Her aunt Darlene presents Rosalie and her son with seeds and a tiny, wizened corncob, kept in a small pouch.

Creating an encaustic-like effect

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

©lesliepetersonsapp Miss Darger II 24x30

©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

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.

©lesliepetersonsapp Bars 16x20

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.

©lesliepetersonsapp Keys 40x48