Tag Archives: contemporary portraiture

Big Yellow Painting

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In the Studio of Leslie Nolan

In the Studio of Leslie Nolan

Think this piece, 48″x48″, is finished.  I like the mono-colored look and the horizontal strokes used for the background.  Something different.

They say it takes two people to make an artwork:  one to paint and the other to say when to stop.  The process can be an interesting conundrum. It’s easy to constantly tweak, fix and improve, but  the risk entails overworking an artwork to the point of weariness that was meant to be fresh and vital.   Much better overall to try something new.  Just go for it.  Just own it.

 

More Corrected Visions

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Leslie M. Nolan's work in the studio

Leslie M. Nolan’s work in the studio

Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan's "Corrected Vision"

Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan’s “Corrected Vision”

These new paintings are meant to complement Corrected Vision, now on exhibit through August 1 at McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) in its curated and juried exhibit “Strictly Painting.”  Curated by senior curator for modern and contemporary art at The Phillips Collection.

If you miss the MPA show, some or all of these will be in my solo exhibit in September at Susan Calloway Fine Arts, Georgetown.

I like the idea of playing with an idea and carrying it further.  Kind of like expressing a different tone or meaning of the same subject matter.  For these paintings, the subject revolves around one idea:  young or old, it’s easy to develop a blind spot.  Maybe that’s called survival.  Maybe denial.

McLean Project for the Arts

1234 Ingleside Avenue    McLean VA 22101    phone 703.790.1953    http://www.mpaart.org

 

 

 

 

 

New for Upcoming Solo Shows

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Working on some new pieces for upcoming solo exhibits in September at Susan Calloway Fine Arts in Washington, DC’s Georgetown and at Delaplaine Arts Center in Frederick, MD.  While still pondering on an appropriately ambiguous title for the Calloway exhibit, the title for Delaplaine is “Mixed Messages.”   I think it apt, because we send out the message we want people to receive, yet our body language or tone can communicate a completely different message.  The recipient must draw his or her own interpretation of those sometimes “mixed messages.”

In the final analysis, aren’t we all a little confused from time to time?

New Work By Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan

New Work By Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan

Something Different In the Studio of Leslie Nolan

Something Different In the Studio of Leslie Nolan

‘Unfiltered’ at Touchstone Gallery, Washington, DC

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Fabulous opening at Touchstone Gallery of my “Unfiltered” exhibit.

Strictly Painting

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Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan's "Corrected Vision"

Washington, DC Artist Leslie Nolan’s “Corrected Vision”

This painting, 36″ x 36″ acrylic on canvas, will be exhibited in “Strictly Painting” at McLean Project for the Arts June 18 – August 1, 2015.  Juror Vesela Sretenovic, Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philliips Collection, selected artwork of 38 artists for the exhibition.  If you’re in the area, drop by and check it out.

Strictly Painting

June 18 – August 1 — Opening Reception June 30, 7-9 PM

McLean Project for the Arts

1234 Ingleside Ave, McLean, VA 22101. Phone 703.790.1953. Hours T-F 10-4; Sat 1-5

Smart Isn’t Enough

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Smart Isn't Enough By Contemporary Figurative Painter Leslie M. Nolan 36"x36" acrylic on canvas

Smart Isn’t Enough
By Contemporary Figurative Painter Leslie M. Nolan
36″x36″ acrylic on canvas

Making one’s way through life is tough.  Nikki Giovanni’s poem “Straight Talk” provided the feel and title for this new piece, because its words capture the image’s  idea of moving forward despite uncertainty.

Full disclosure, this photographic rendering fails to capture the nuance and richness of the original artwork.  I’m sure everyone on earth knows that computer monitors, as well as film, lighting, and digital manipulation all alter reality.  Despite photographers’ best efforts, an image can never duplicate 100% the original.  It can hint.  It can titillate.  It can encourage the viewer to go see the painting in a museum or gallery.  For artwork, there is no substitute for the real thing – the brushwork, hints of uncovered color, a deep teal hue blending into a rich gray, punctuated by cadmium orange.

In that sense a work of art reflects life.  A photo of Machu Picchu cannot begin to duplicate the feeling of being there in the mountains, the wind eratically bending grass, smells of foliage, tactile feel of rock work honed by the hands of citizens from an ancient, long gone civilization.

This one-of-a-kind painting will be at Susan Calloway Fine Arts in September 2015.