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"After the Harvest"
12 x 18, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2016

I am happy to be one of the featured artists at the Christ Church Gallery for the month of October. I would be honored if you could stop by and see some of my latest work! You can click here to see more detailed information about location, hours, etc.

"Lavender Colonnade"
8 x 13, Oil on Linen, Mounted on Panel
(c) Lesley Powell 2016

The rotating shows at the Gallery are in large part the work of the talented Charlotte artist Margaret Salisbury. It's a labor of love! Margaret always does a great job of displaying the work, and choosing a wide representation of local and regional artists. And the shows help

Seeing Inside

"Dried Hydrangeas"
(c) Carole Rabe

It's always exciting to discover the work of a very accomplished artist whose approach to painting is the same as, or similar to, your own. It helps me see all that can be possible! I recently came across several paintings by Carole Rabe. The paintings immediately struck a chord with me, and I embarked on more research regarding Rabe's work. Lo and behold, I learned that Rabe studied with Robert d'Arista. D'Arista was also a mentor to a couple of my other favorite painters, Maggie Siner and Frank Hobbs. 'Tis a strong bloodline that holds together this group of perceptual painters!

"Dining Chair Lineup"
(c) Carole Rabe

I read an in-depth interview with Rabe, which confirmed many things that I had surmised simply from looking at her paintings. First, she paints only from direct observation of her subject, never from photos. As she says. only SEEING with her own eyes gives her the

Painting from Life

As faithful readers know, I prefer to paint from life whenever possible. (For the uninitiated, "painting from life" means standing before your subject in person, and painting what you see, as you stand there. By contrast, you do not paint from life when you paint from a photo, from memory, or from any other approach). Why do I prefer to paint from life? Let me count the ways:

(1) Painting from life is a thrill!  Something starts my heart racing and my brain brimming over when I stand in the landscape, studying to find my composition, and trying to discern the light and colors. Painting from life has a thrill factor (for me, at least) that painting from a photo simply lacks. The challenge of standing with the whole wide world around you, and then choosing the small slice of the world that you will paint to represent your experience of the whole--well, that's a WOW challenge. It is an entirely different experience than looking at a one dimensional photograph and reproducing it. Different, more difficult, and much more fun!

(2) Painting from life gives you more information to work with. For me, painting is all about learning to see. And you can't see from a photo what you can see with your eyes in person. Simply put, a human being sees things differently than a camera does. In life, you

This Magic Moment

Detail from a recent painting
(c) Lesley Powell 2016

"Living in the Moment"--we have all heard that expression. We have heard it so often, in fact, that it sounds trite. But the underlying message retains its power. 

Julia Cameron has written about this concept in her seminal book The Artist's Way. She refers to it simply as paying attention.  Cameron writes:

The quality of life is in proportion,

always,

to the capacity for delight.

The capacity for delight is the gift of

paying attention.

Moreover, Cameron writes that "The reward for paying attention is always healing." I was reminded of these truths recently, when I attended a community art show sponsored by Arts for Life. Arts for Life brings the arts to children in the hospital, tapping into their creativity to