LESLIE PETERSON SAPP
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Film Noir Art
    • Woodcut and Etching
    • Vintage Snapshot Art
    • Myth and Story
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

My Social Media Sabbatical

7/20/2023

0 Comments

 

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.
Picture
A tiny doodle from my journal.
One boat is Film Noir, the other boat is Archeology.

One boat is public-facing promotion, the other is private art practice.

One boat is a confident beating of the drum, the other is diffident exploration.
Picture
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.
Meanwhile, I was carving out an hour here or there to do some deeply challenging experimentation in the studio.
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.

Picture
Behind the curtain...
Like a lot of things, posting on social media is easier the more you do it, and the less you do it, well... the less you do it.

Social Media- a blessing and a curse.

Having a social media presence is practically a must for an artist these days.

I have long since came to terms with the fact that I am not, and probably never will be, a social media sensation.

Picture
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.


But you know folks, I just can't seem to make myself do it.

Despite of, or maybe because of, having to appear confident for all the shows I've been having, I have been particularly reluctant to show my process like I normally would.

What I need to do, is start afresh.


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?

Picture
Fortunately, I am old enough that I do remember those times. Bringing back a bit of that peace and privacy may be exactly what I need.
0 Comments

The Seed Keeper

3/18/2023

0 Comments

 

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.

Picture
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.

The Seed Keeper

This dense, multi-layered story is about Rosalee Ironwing Meister, a Native American Dakota woman, and her quest to become whole. Interwoven into the story is the recounting of her ancestors’ struggle to survive the “Indian Wars,” relocations, boarding schools, and the collective trauma caused by these events. Throughout the book, the theme of seeds, traditions being handed down, and the evolution of farming techniques binds it all together.

My inspiration and interpretation

In this piece, I integrate several objects and moments in time into a single image.
Picture
©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.
The books protagonist, Rosalie Ironwing is a loner. She has had a tumultuous and insecure young life.
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.
Picture
When John dies, she goes on a quest to make peace with her past, and in so doing regains contact with her family and her heritage. 
Picture
Her aunt Darlene presents Rosalie and her son with seeds and a tiny, wizened corncob, kept in a small pouch.
I see the envelope, the pouches, and even the old white farmhouse as being safe places for seeds and souls to rest and incubate. From that place of rest, growth is possible.


Creating an encaustic-like effect

The technique I used to make this piece is part of a new method of artmaking for me. I wished to create an encaustic-like effect by using layers of different types of acrylic media.

Encaustic is painting with hot wax. It is an ancient painting medium that has seen a rebirth since the 1990's. Because it is wax, it has a beautiful, foggy opacity. The wax can be applied and fused in layers, so there are often multiple images peeking through, creating depth.

First, I drew and painted the main image. Then I covered it with Golden Clear Leveling Gel, then Golden Heavy Matte Gel. Then I drew the house/envelope. I added more color and detail to it. Then, using a scumbling technique, I intensified the white snow in the center of the image by adding titanium white and pearlescent silver. Many of the effects and details cannot be properly seen in a photograph, because there is depth iridescence and a wee bit of sparkle.


The Lake Oswego Reads Art Exhibition will hang at The Dee Denton Gallery in the Lakewood Center for the Arts, then move to multiple venues throughout the state of Oregon.
0 Comments

Why Noir? It's Fate, Baby.

9/19/2022

1 Comment

 

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.
Picture
©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.
Picture
©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.
Picture
©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.
1 Comment

Why Noir? The Unusual Suspects

9/16/2022

1 Comment

 

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.

Picture
Picture

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.
Picture
©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?

Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Incognito 10x8
Picture
©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. 
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Keys 40x48

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

Why Noir? It's Complicated

9/14/2022

2 Comments

 

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.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Pursuit 24x48
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.

Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Search 48x40
Picture
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.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Many a Moon 38x38

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

Why Noir? The Doomed Romance

9/12/2022

1 Comment

 

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.”
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Vacancy 48x40
The characters in film noir practice a lot of bad behavior. They smoke and drink, lie, cheat, extort and manipulate.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Urgent 48x24

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.”

Picture
Double Indemnity

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

Why Noir? The Antihero and The Homme Fatale

9/9/2022

1 Comment

 

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #6


How many times have you said to yourself, "this is a bad idea,"- then went ahead and did it anyway?
Picture
Night and the City


Placing that call (or hitting "send").
That second drink.
Saying yes (or no).
A scheme. A move. A journey. A purchase.


How many times have our worser impulses lead us into misadventure?
This is the essence of the typical male protagonist in film noir. A guy who is presented with a choice, and even though it is a bad idea, he goes forward with his instincts, his craving, his desire, his compulsion, his desperate need, instead of what we know would be the right choice. He must live, or die, by that fateful decision.

We watch the drama unfold, unable to look away.

Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Backlight 38x48
Men have their own particular burden to carry. They are supposed to do, to achieve, attain, and win. But the world does not have a level playing field. Additionally, he knows that when the going gets tough, he's the one who is expected to run into the fray, stare it down and fix it. But what if it is unfixable?

The strive to win against all odds is often what motivates Antihero- or the giving up is what fuels his self-destruction.


The Homme Fatale
Not all Fatales are Femme.⁠ Any androsexual will tell you so.

Picture

A fatal attraction to the “bad boy” is the plight of many an otherwise prudent woman. Many are compelled to “fix” or heal a wounded man.

The bad boy seems like a shiny, bright apple on the tree of life, just out of reach. Women tell themselves, “If only I could reach him, hold him, heal him. Then he would be mine.”

But this is an illusion. Another cathartic mechanism in the fantasy world of film noir.

In the real world, such men are exasperating at best- dangerous at worst.

The simple fact is, in our society, men suffer from emotional isolation and alienation. This is no cakewalk, and should not be in any way romanticized.

Yet, the figure of the bad boy, the homme fatale is as romantic as they come.


There is a type of strength that we associate with the quiet suffering we associate with masculinity. The lonely man, isolated and aloof has great dramatic and sexual appeal.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Look Out 30x24
But here we must ask the age-old question; is the catharsis we gain from art worth the messaging it perpetuates?
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp The Boxer 30x40

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

Why Noir? The Femme Fatale

9/7/2022

1 Comment

 

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #5



First, let us examine the word Femme.⁠ Merriam-Webster:⁠

Femme: ⁠
1. an adult female person⁠
2. a lesbian who is notably or stereotypically feminine in appearance and manner⁠

⁠Its French, you know? It comes from the French word for woman.

Next, let us examine the word Fatale.
⁠
⁠Another French word. It means "fatal”.

Merriam-Webster:

Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Queen of Diamonds 30x20
Fatal:
1. a. causing death
b. bringing ruin
c. causing failure

2. a. determining one's fate
b. of or relating to fate
c. resembling fate in proceeding according to a fixed sequence

Put them both together, and it becomes:

Femme Fatale:⁠
1. a seductive woman who lures men into dangerous or compromising situations⁠
2. a woman who attracts men by an aura of charm and mystery⁠



The Femme Fatale is like a fairy tale princess turned on its head. She is the anti-princess. Her nemesis.

Picture
Picture


The word “nemesis” is often used to refer to an arch enemy or polar opposite, or, as my friend Merriam-Webster sez, “a formidable and usually victorious rival or opponent”.

But I like to think of her in astrological terms.

Astrologically, nemesis is a theoretical star that may have once been a twin star of our sun. A Femme Fatale is a mysterious dark star, a nemesis to the bright, sunny fairy tale princess of my childhood.

But if she is so evil, why do we love her so much?
Be good, be patient, look pretty and maybe the prince will come and save you. I was taught that as a girl, it was the foundation of my world view and identity. I had no examples of powerful, non-domestic women in my life. Into this vacuum stepped the only example of feminine power available to me: the Femme Fatale.

Classic film noir emerged during a time of immense social upheaval. Women had gone out into the working world during WWII, then were abruptly required to get back to the home and be nice. The Femme Fatale was an expression of this anxiety, an attempt to vilify powerful women and shame them back into the kitchen.
Picture
Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity
Picture
Gloria Grahame in The Big Heat
Though she is usually regarded as a destructive force of evil, in actuality she is often portrayed with layers of nuance- if you care to look. It is often clear that she is a woman who doesn’t have a lot of choices. She is trying to flip a bad situation to her advantage, perhaps turning the tables of power back on the men who use and control her. For me, the Femme Fatale is often infused with a tragic quality: a resourceful gal, just trying to make the best from a bad hand dealt.
In the course of my personal maturity, I am finding my way to a healthier embodiment of power.

It has taken most of my adult life to build up some understanding of how to be an entrepreneur, which is essentially what a professional artist is.

I’ve had a lot of catching up to do.


Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Blue Room 40x40
But all the while, I still rejoice in the cathartic glorification of my dark princess, the lost twin star, our nemesis, the Femme Fatale.

For Extra Credit!
A fabulous article: In Defense of Villainesses, by Sarah Gailey- so much fun!


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

Why Noir? The Art and Style of the Era

9/5/2022

1 Comment

 

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #4


Any artist will tell you, the key to artistic maturity is to discover one's own unique, consistent language. I seek to find a balance of representation and abstraction.

Modern Art, and design in the Modernist period dealt with this specifically.

Picture
Italian travel poster, Mario Puppo, 1948
Picture
Italian travel poster, Mario Puppo, 1941
While experts say Modernism died with the onslaught of WWII, I think it was a part of the cultural zeitgeist well afterwards, especially in popular culture.
Picture
Blind Minotaur Led through the Night by Girl with Fluttering Dove, Picasso, 1935
My style is evocative of the painting and graphic arts that were contemporary with the hey-day of film noir. So, not only do I learn from films noir directly, I also love the style of the era, and let this inform the way I choose to depict the subject.
Picture
The Little Fish, Max Beckmann, 1933
Picture
Charles Sheeler, Canyons, 1951
Much like how I engage with the subject of film noir, I like to find the essence of what I am seeing and try to express it with forthright simplicity.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Glass Houses 30x28

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

Why Noir? Studying Film Noir Makes Me a Better Painter.

9/2/2022

3 Comments

 

A series on how film noir inspires my art- Entry #3


Many film noir aficionados know that American film noir was born from German Expressionism,
an art movement that started at the turn of the 20th century, and encompassed painting, theater, music, literature, and the brand-new medium of film.
It sought to express emotion and subjective experience by using symbolism, exaggeration, and distortion. In painting, the elements of design were used to support a narrative.

Picture
"M" 1931 Fritz Lang
Picture
"The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" 1920
In cinematography, the techniques used included deep focus, extreme camera angles, dramatic lighting shone from raked angles, and chiaroscuro (which is a painterly technique developed during the Renaissance where use of deep variations of light and dark is used to enhance mood and create dramatic effect).
I consider the masters of film noir my teachers as well as my inspiration. By studying their cinematographic virtuosity, I have become a better narrative painter.

Because the noir aesthetic is so specific, I am obliged to narrow my focus and deepen my decisions, which has honed my skills.

Picture
"Crossfire" 1947
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Lamplight 40x48
I have become better at marshaling the elements of design, such as value, arrangement, and scale. I believe these skills transcend any specific style and will translate to other subjects as my creative interests evolve.
Picture
©lesliepetersonsapp Exit 28x18

Why Noir? is a series! Read 'em all.
3 Comments
<<Previous
    Take a Closer Look.
    Here is an intimate, in depth glimpse into my thoughts, inspiration and artistic process.

    Categories

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


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

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Portfolio
    • Film Noir Art
    • Woodcut and Etching
    • Vintage Snapshot Art
    • Myth and Story
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog