Barbara Leyendecker is a Fort Collins painter, print maker, artist and she is sharing her creations with Art Lab Fort Collins this month.
In Barbara’s own words:
I always like to experiment with and change how I express myself in my art. This process involves not only which medium I choose but also how I use it, andI often select more than one medium at a time. Whether I paint on paper or canvas, draw, etch, or collage photographs depends upon the idea or energy of my particular prevailing muse. My drawing is always a pivotal point for me, especially when I am working from the human figure. Regardless of the sujet, though, I use life experiences that have both emotionally and visually impacted me.
I am always tempted to mix abstract thought with quasi identifiable subject matter. As I am writing this statement I am looking closely at the mountain that is directly across from my house, and as I watch, I see a jet aircraft’s white contrail moving far above the peak through the clear sky. I know it’s going hundreds of miles an hour, but the cottony contrail seems to be developing so very slowly. If I were to draw or paing this scene, I would need to make many decisions, starting with the desire not to render it only as I see it now but also to represent it as an experience that shows how t his kinetic and emotional vision has affected me. A major question would be, “Which medium (or media) should I use in order to express and communicate this experience?”
The artists whom I have admired and learned from throughout history are those who get inside themselves and allow their thoughts and emotions to dominate their works. I believe it necessary that in order to create honesty, one needs to show how presenting the mess of things that constitute our lives can be seen in art that is essentially stable, coherent and believe it or not, realistic.