Stephanie Sittnick - Director of Sales ( 860) 227-8199 advertising@518mag.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Carol St.Sauveur Ferris, Karen Richman, Rona Mann
Chandler Stevens, Lawrence White, Kirsten Ferguson, Alan B. Richer, Crystal Cobert Giddens, Kristina Watrobski, Chef Armand Vanderstigchel
COVER
“Kentucky Derby 139” Derek Gores
The summer is officially here and there is no turning back. It’s time for summer activities like swimming, going to the beach, and participate in various events and festivals. Some of us are beach bums, others ar e adventurers, and plenty of us simply enjoy a refreshing beverage outside your favorite restaurant. Whether your hiking, biking or lazing about—however you choose to unwind, summer’s the season for it.
Welcome to the July issue. This months magazine exclusively features the work and stories of female artists. Relax on your favorite summer chair and enjoy the inspiring stories of each of these talented women.
As always, our goal at 518 PROFILES, is always to focus on the good, the beautiful and the positive by publishing stories with heart and soul. We strive each month to deliver authentic and unique content about creative people and interesting destinations. Enjoy!
Stephanie Sittnick Founder / Publisher
“Here There Are Many Layers of Joy” Choose Artist Yeachin Tsai, Sir David Attenborough Did! pg. 6
ENCORE
From the Earth to the Canvas
Ann Womack – Abstract Painter pg. 16
Intoxicated by the Smell, Laura Von Rosk Now Intoxicates With Her Art pg. 26
Leslie Parke, Artist Her Paintings Transport You to Another World pg. 34
“Here There Are Many Layers of Joy”
Choose Artist Yeachin Tsai, Sir David Attenborough Did!
by Rona Mann
When you speak with Yeachin Tsai by phone, you have only her voice to paint the picture of who this artist is, but it is her very voice and her manner of speaking that so well defines the multi-faceted personality hiding behind such extraordinary talent.
Originally from the beautiful Pacific island of Taiwan but now living in the United States for some 30 years, Tsai informs that it was her
fa ther who named her. “Yeachin,” which roughly translated, means “e legant stringed instrument” and thus is related to music. Yeachin Tsai honored her father later in life by becoming self-taught on the guitar, but the ele gance she possesses is strictly a product of her art and of the artist herself.
“Auspicious River” 26x54
“Myth of Zhuangzi” 30x56
When she first arrived on our shores 30 years ago, she settled in New York City but eventually found the City “not nurturing and very expensive,” and not very appealing for an artist. Having friends in the artist community in Troy made the decision to leave New York an easy one, so Yeachin and her husband, also an artist, became residents of Rensselaer County.
They easily assimilated into the friendly artists’ community and gave up the traffic and noisy commuting of the City. Yeachin adds with a laugh, “We live on the second floor in our building. Every morning my commute is I drink coffee and go down to the basement. That’s where my studio (Yeachin Tsai Fine Art) is located.”
Yeachin is well-skilled in fine art having earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree in her native Taiwan and a Master of Fine Art from the living classroom that is the academically rigorous and competitive Brooklyn College CUNY (City University of New York). She also had the benefit since childhood of learning the fine and delicate art of sumi ink brush marks calligraphy taught by Chinese calligraphy and painting masters, learning never to hesitate while her brush was in motion and always respecting the space. Since her experience as a young child, Yeachin loved the sheer simplicity of this art form.
Yeachin is an international abstract artist, her medium is non-representational, focusing on the basic elements of art: color, shape, and line. When speaking with her, she frequently uses words that evoke emotion, feelings, and lyrical techniques. It is her own interpretation and abstraction that comes forth in her work, sometimes slowly like a well choreographed dance, other times bursting with a brilliant splay of color.
Yeachin’s paintings reflect all of this and are powered by energy, both positive and negative. Her past life experiences have given birth to the vibrant life displayed in her work, but as she acknowledges in her artist’s statement, “When executing the brush strokes, I am particularly mindful and aware of the space in between. The empty space becomes a crucial component of the painting itself. The work is alive within the space and energy of those marks and colors, imbued with the spirit of the artist. I am dancing in the space as I work.”
“Many Stars Many Suns” 48x48
“Beauty of Love”
“Cathedral” 25x24
Unlike oil painters who build up layer upon layer, Tsai prepares her canvases in advance with fiber paste, a viscous opaque medium. When it dries, it replicates the look and feel of Chinese rice paper, is semi-absorbent, and creates textured surfaces of layered ink, acrylic, and oil. “They pull the paint in, thus the space is infinite and the time is timeless,” remarks Yeachin who paints not just on can vas, but also on wood, fabric, and paper. Her work has been characterized as, “Chinese calligraphy meets Western abstraction.”
Her art is driven by, and mindful of, the el e ments: earth, water, air, and it is perhaps this that drove Sir David Attenborough; his collaborator, Colin Butfield; and John Murray, the publisher of Attenborough’s newest book, “Ocean: How to Save Earth’s Last Wilderness” to choose Yeachin’s painting, “Golden Wave,” for the book cover. Attenborough is wellknown as a British broadcaster, writer, and naturalist with eight decades of famous na ture documentaries. Best known for a nine-part Life Collection series, Attenborough was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1985.
“Golden Wave” is Tsai’s homage to growing up in Taiwan where she had always been fascinated by the display of the natural power of the typhoon season. It is those waves that have become one of the artist’s major motifs, and she was pleasantly surprised and very honored to have her work chosen for the book cover. Yeachin was invited to London this past May to attend the “Ocean” fil m world premiere when the book and film were introduced in conju nction with Attenborough’s 99th birt hday celebration. It was attended by many notables including King Charles. “I did not meet him,
they kept him far away,” she laughed, al lowing that she does not consider herself a threat to the Crown.
The publisher had “found” Yeachin’s work more than a year ago. “I don’t know how they found me, but they did,” she added, clearly delighted as well as surprised. Many others have “found” the work of Yeachin Tsai as her paintings are part of both private and corporate collections in Canada, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East as well as in the United States.
“Golden Wave” 18x18
“Galaxy Suite” 68x56
“Western culture is very different from Eastern culture. I have been trained in joy and beauty. It is healthy and wholesome and will take you over. My artwork is my message of hope, of energy. It has many layers of joy. I have had hardship in my own life, but art has always been my savior, my healing.”
There is so much more to this woman and to the messages of joy and hope that the fine art of Yeachin Tsai embodies, but sadly, we are lim ited for space in this article. All the more reason to meet her through the exhibition at The Laffer Gallery (details below), to log onto her website, and to really delve deeply not only into the work but into
the links within her website revealing articles, reviews, and what inter viewers and others have said about her work. Yeachin Tsai is both a glorious combination and an enigma of ancient in struction happily colliding with the world as she sees it and feels it today. She is the very best representative of two diverse cultures, dancing through the creation of her brush strokes… she is truly the embodiment of the “elegant stringed instrument” that is her name.
Her work is timeless. Its energy is palpable. This is Yeachin Tsai. She is beautiful www.yeachintsaifineart.com www.instagram.com/yeachin.tsai
You can view an exhibition of Yeachin’s art from now through July 27th at The Laffer Gallery, just 10 miles from Saratoga Springs at 96 Broad Street, Schuylerville, NY.
Tsai’s work is part of a two-person show titled “Fre quencies” along with artist, Leslie Parke.
“Meandering Poet” 30x22
“Perfect Storm” 55x35
ARKELL MUSEUM
From the Earth to the Canvas Ann Womack – Abstract Painter
By Lawrence White
Art is a harmony parallel with nature
...Paul Cezanne
There are many talented people alive on Earth at any given time. Yet, there are a few who are so in tune with
their artistic gifts and muse that they stand out immediately. These artists virtually explode from one moment into the next. Their experience is unfolding before their eyes in a dazzling array, and they are as amazed by it as we are. They are hastening their acceleration and riding the momentum with astonishment and glee. It is as if the art is creating the artist, not the other way around.
This level of highly expressive artist cannot be termed a workaholic. Their art is not work, or toil, or created to the satisfaction of anyone other than the dynamic they feel from within. That is exactly why it connects so well with the public, particularly the demographic that has studied and understands what they are witnessing.
Ann Womack is such an artist.
I had known Ann for some time before seeing her artwork We met when I started writing music with her partner, renowned luthier and hot blues guitarist, Miklos Frisz.
I was aware that Ann was a tremendously caring person who worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) at Community Hos pice of Saratoga, but it was not until a visit to their house that I saw Ann’s bold and expressive canvases. I was impressed and told her so. I encouraged Ann to continue, but in my experience, many super-talented people never develop their gifts, so their creativity lies fallow, never fully re alized. That was not the case with Ann. She has truly connected to her muse, and the workflow is constant.
Our society is focused on established artists whose styles are well-known and honored. However, I have seen many contemporary artists of differing styles prior to their recognition, and they all had one thing in common: their creative voices were louder than the opinions of the public. This made them unstoppable, and as a result, public opinion caught on to them in the way the artist desired.
When I visit Ann to witness her technique while working, I am struck by the large painting area she uses that is bathed in soft natural light from skylights above. The tools, brushes, and var ious tubes of acrylic paint are arrayed neatly and in a specific order on a wooden table near the easel. In this setup, Ann is able to move surely from her supplies to the canvas as spontaneous inspira tion dictates.
Ann’s abstract paintings are deeply textured with layers of paint and organic materials often mixed with various visual icons like butterflies, cherubim, or flowers. These are placed in a discovery style to enhance the flow of the piece and enhance the
“Pinball Dream” 11” x 17”
“Candles Burning at Both Ends” 24” x 16”
(close up) “Time to Fly” 8” x 11”
viewer’s experience but not overpower it. Ann’s concentration while working is remarkable. It is as if each painting is a book only she can read. A book that appears in vivid, complex, unapologetic hues that are not only a reflection of her vision but of her heritage.
Ann was born in Louisville, Kentucky, which every Saratogian knows is an area famed for thoroughbred horses. What is not as well-known is that the area is also a thriving community of textile artists and weavers. This is the community heritage Ann carries to her artwork today.
Ann tells me how her vision was shaped. “My mother and father had a huge garden where they grew natural dye plants. My mother spent a lot of time researching the various uses of the plants, and it was not long before they had big pots with burners to create dyes and colors. Other people who were into the process started to come by and check out what we were doing. It in volved both women and men, and it was
a lot of fun. We were using natural dyes to color yarn and fabric. We used indigo, madder root, and elderberry among other plants. The incredible variety of colors was amazing.”
I ask Ann how she feels the early experiences of creating natural earth hues shaped her artwork today. She responds, “The essence of my canvases is based on the colors I experienced from those earth tones. This is also true of the sculptures and other artwork I create now.”
“Vision of The Rythmn” 48” x 36”
“Lunas by Night” 17” x 21”
“Seeing Energy”
“What Comes Next”
Ann goes on to explain, “I like a lot of colors in my canvases. First, I painted with muted hues and tones, but then my eyes were attracted to brighter colors. Now I paint using bright, but not glaring colors that fade into each other forming patterns, designs, and symbols.”
“Yarn is limiting with what you can accomplish with colors, but now I am able to gain so much depth and luminescence even in very large canvases. It is really exciting for me.”
A fascinating fact is that Ann did not pick up a paintbrush for many years. As she says, “Life kept getting in the way. I was caregiving for family members long before I became a registered nurse. At the same time, I was always helping because I wanted to. I started to help my parents run their in-home insurance business and their fiber business on the side. I took the opportunity to design clothing, sweaters, scarves, and so on. I got great enjoyment from it.”
Then, with a playful boast, Ann tells me, “I am the first person to design an angora knitted bra!” Continuing with a big laugh, she says, “It was incredibly soft yet very supportive. It was a big hit.”
It is the conjugality of Ann’s soul-deep connection to the earth and the calling she answers to care for others, combined with her playfully expressive imagination, that is evident in every piece of her work. This has not gone unnoticed in the local art world. In a very short time, Ann has been part of several group exhibitions and one-person exhibitions that have been remarkably successful, particularly for such a new artist on the scene.
Robin Brewer, Gallery Coordinator for North Country Arts, tells me, “Ann has such a love and dedication to her art. It certainly is a driving force that enables her to be true to herself. To me, her work is the result of her pleasure in the process. Her intuitive nature and the ability to build upon it is what I love to see in her creations. The layers and depth that are found in her pieces are dynamic and appear to be in constant motion. Her art is so per sonal and intimate, and at the same time, it can reach out to all who view it in individual ways.”
Highly regarded fine artist and gallery owner, Susan Bayard Whiting, has experienced Ann’s work from a unique perspective. Susan tells me, “Ann took the chance to exhibit in our gallery in
July of 2024. She had not exhibited in a gallery setting prior to our exhibit and was understandably anxious about how her work would be received. After more than half of her work sold during the opening reception, I think she understood that her creative instincts were spot on!”
The most exciting aspect of Ann’s work is that her portfolio is naturally evolving, changing, and growing with each new piece. It is impossible to predict how Ann’s muse will navigate the flow of nature that in spires and illuminates her artwork, but it is possible to predict that it will be dynamic, bold, and unforgettable.
www.annwomack.com
Intoxicated by the Smell, Laura Von Rosk Now Intoxicates With Her Art
by Rona Mann
Quick. Think of an artist. A painter. What does that image elicit?
For many, you might think of a solitary figure, quietly creating in their studio, perhaps standing on a sandy shore or on a hillside, solemnly making brush stroke after brush stroke.
That in truth describes many artists who produce beautiful work, but that image holds little or no resemblance to Laura Von Rosk, an energetic individual with a vast background of experience and experiences that partner with her work while she paints. Her partner is not just a flat piece of canvas, it is her collaborator, her muse, and while Van Rosk begins the process by making a few rough sketches to get an idea of color, she readily admits, “Pretty soon the painting starts talking back, taking me in a different direction.” And Laura Von Rosk loves it!
As a child growing up on Long Island she was “always making art. Somewhere around the 7th grade I was pegged by the other kids as being the class artist. I loved to draw, and by the time I got to high school I was taking a bus to the ‘other high school’ in town because they had an advanced art program and longer, more detailed classes.”
While still in high school, Von Rosk and her parents made the usual perfunctory tour of potential colleges and universities to see what would be a good fit, and SUNY Purchase immediately won the young artist over by tantalizing her olfactory response. “We walked into the painting studios,” Laura began, “and there was someone painting in oil on a large canvas. I immediately fell in love with that school, its reputation for an outstanding fine arts education, and the smell of the oil paint. That’s what I wanted to do!”
Laura earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from SUNY Purchase and her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, but she earned her real chops from the college of experience, and there were many. Varied experiences with the most exciting and unusual worldwide touches.
Following graduation from The University of Pennsylvania, she spent some time in Philadelphia before traveling and applying for Artist in Residence openings in Vermont, Virginia, Washington state, California, Wyoming, Min nesota, Maine, and right here
“Mt Erebus and Dive Hole”
“Blow Down”
in rural Upstate New York. On the horizon this year is still an upcom ing residency in Ireland, but whatever adventure it may pres ent is nothing compared to her expeditions with research biolo gist, Dr. Sam Bowser, to Antarctica in 2011 and again in 2015.
Working as a Field Assistant and dive tender, Laura learned to create and maintain dive holes in this frozen piece of world geography. She was there to assist a team of scuba divers whose job it was to collect specimens of single-celled marine organisms living on the sea floor. The divers entered the ocean through these holes in the sea ice as thick
“Sunflowers” 6x6ft
as 12 feet. She spent hours awaiting the return of the divers so that she could not only take hold of their equipment and specimens but also assist them in getting out of the deep hole. While she waited, she stared for a long time into the dark blue holes which later on served as the sense memory for her Antarctica series of paintings.
To best take in Von Rosk’s growth and artistic evolution, one should make a most intriguing and necessary trip to her website. There, the artist has not wasted space with never-ending words, but filled it with her work from the earliest years to the present. One gets a sense of her emotional involvement and partnership with her paintings and that like an actor, she uses “sense memory” to evoke feelings and translate them and transfer them to the canvas before her. By pure definition, sense memory is using physical sensations from past ex perience to evoke memories of sight, sounds, and smells…. smells like that oil paint the young Laura first encountered at SUNY Purchase, overcoming her senses and cementing them in her mind and her very being.
Von Rosk relates in her website that certain objects drive her narra tive, and she thrives working within a series of paintings “to test possibilities within a framework.” This artist does not work in plein air or from photography, because a photograph is one fraction of a second in time. Instead, she sketches from life, and her series of fences allows her to test those possibilities. Are the fences keeping people or things out, holding them close in, welcoming, or limiting?
“Evening Garden”
The light, the color, and that ever-changing collaboration with the painting itself is directing the viewer’s attention, but never commanding that they see something specific. Laura leaves that to the sense memory of those who view the work; she merely directs the actors to her stage.
Von Rosk recently completed her “Sea Breeze Patio” series, an homage to the backyard of her childhood home in Long Island with its small patio lined by arborvitae bushes. She needed no photography because the arborvitae filled her sense memory and was the perfect taking-off point to build and see where her paintings would take her.
“People who follow me know that I usually work very small. I often give a bird’s-eye view but with a vision of deep space. Although I prefer oil paint, recently I started working in acrylic. It is fast drying, and no need for solvents allows me to work larger.”
When people speak of artists, they usually do so in generalizations. They are quick to label. “So-and-so is a landscape artist,” while “That person is a watercolorist.” “She is strictly an abstract artist,” but “He’s an impressionist.” However, after you’ve looked, really looked at the work of Laura Von Rosk, you will realize she is impossible to label, and that is part of her artistry. It’s that wink and a nod she has with her paintings because they start talking back to her, telling her the journey they’re both about to take.
Laura says, “It’s part of the struggle. You don’t know where it’s going to take you. You don’t know what’s going to happen,” and you can tell that’s a very happy problem for a very fulfilled artist who still swoons at the smell of oils and has no problem getting out of a hole.
See Laura’s work up close and personal!
From now through October 12th: “Pushing Boundaries” at Artisan Lofts, Tribeca, NYC
June 6-Nov. 8Th: “Sight Specific” at Albany Public Library, Pine Hills Branch
June 13th-July 13th“Forest Bathing: at Opus 40, Woodstock, NY
July 4th-August 6th: A two-person exhibition with Betsy Brandt at Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC), Glens Falls, NY
“Sea Breeze Patio - Canal”
“Sea Breeze Patio Stars”
Leslie Parke, Artist Her Paintings Transport You to Another World
by Carol St.Sauveur Ferris
Most of us remember the time we were first introduced to fantasy worlds that enchanted us, perhaps frightened us, and often invited us in. It might have been bedtime stories like The Wizard of Oz, Little Red Riding Hood, or possibly Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Or it could have been a movie we saw as we got older like Back to the Future, Twilight, or maybe Star Wars. The posters of these fantasy worlds often hung in our rooms reminding us of cool places we had been, if only in our minds, but forever lodged in our subconscious. For artist, Leslie Parke, her artist’s journey ultimately led her to the merger of her subconscious with reality, compelling her to paint other-worldly canvases that strum the strings of life and beyond.
Leslie’s creative journey began in Scarsdale, New York. One of four children, her father was a doctor who liked to build
“Falling”
things. In fact, he built two wooden sailboats, called Bluejays, for his sons right in their living room! And that was all because her mother
was worried she would never see her husband while he built them. So, the family completely emptied the living room of all its contents, creating an in-house shipyard if you will, and life went on. Besides boat building, there was always a project going on in their house, even in front of the TV where hands were never idle.
By the age of five, Leslie knew that she wanted to be an artist, and her parents supported her. She was allowed to make art anywhere
in their house. Luckily for her, Leslie’s mother gave her a set of paints and a smock which she put to good use, and her father made a special wall in the basement of their home where she could hang all of her creations. You might say it was her first of many future galleries to ex hibit her work.
“It was very clear from the time I was five that this was what I was going to do, and I wasn’t particularly talented at it. I was no prodigy. I just loved it, worked hard at it, and kept pursuing it.”
“Clouds on Water”
“Precious Stones”
Living close to New York City, Leslie was allowed to visit all the museums whenever she wanted. She was just 10 years old when she began visiting them on a regular basis, so much so that she describes her curious and young self as a “museum rat.” Those frequent visits gave Leslie an enviable art history foundation that served her well throughout her formal education and strengthened her commitment to art.
That unwavering commitment to art prompted Leslie’s parents to send her to Woodstock Country School in Woodstock, Vermont. There the training was focused and rigorous but the passion the 100 kids brought to class was not to be discouraged. With a professional artist teaching the young artists-in-training, their creative hunger was nourished every day. Following graduation from Woodstock Country School, Leslie attended
Mills College in Oakland, California, but after one year, she realized that California was not for her. Back to Vermont she went where she happily attended Bennington College. In 1974, she earned her undergraduate degree in art, painting, and sculpture. Later, in 1976, she earned her master’s degree in fine art from Bennington as well.
While in college she also worked part-time as a sculpture assistant to Brower Hatcher and in the college’s admissions department. In her free time, she was devoted to her studio work. Later, in 1982, Leslie worked with a German documentary filmmaker as a sound person and a “Jill of All Trades.” Over the eight years, they made ten documentaries with one of par ticular interest, called Watch Me Now. It is a documentary about Cus D’Amato’s gym in Catskill, New York where a 15–16-yearold, talented young boxer named Mike Tyson, trained and later became one of the most fa mous boxers of all time.
Though working on the documentaries, the painter in her was still alive and well. From 1983-1995 she painted The Matisse Series, The Giotto Series, and The Ingres Series. Distinctly different, they share a unique style and ap proach to composition. Leslie cut and stretched canvases onto uniquely shaped frames, then painted them with figures appropriated from famous artists whose names appear in
“Echo Upon Echo”
the title of their respective series. In addition to these incredible series, she also painted her Boxing Series from 1992-1994 depicting the raw highs and lows of training, fights, and knockouts she witnessed ringside at Bally’s in Atlantic City and at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
In 1994, Leslie was the recipient of the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Foundation International Artist grant which provided an artist-in-residence experience at the Claude Monet Foundation in Giverny, France. She spent five glorious months living on the fa mous property and painting the breathtaking beauty that she saw every day. She also discovered the very spot on the Epte River where Monet did his sunrise paintings and photographed the 4 AM sunrise every five to ten minutes for many days in a row. The location was so precise and the photos so incredible, that when placed side by side with pictures of Monet’s original paintings, it is difficult to discern the real sunrise painting from the sunrise photographs. The experience at Giverny and other artists’ res idences she visited while in France, gave her an inside view into the how’s and why’s of their work which is very important to her.
described as paranormal by some but for Leslie, it was life-affirming. “I had this tremendous sense of well-being then I came out of it and I thought, I should paint that.”
“I very much like to go and see where people have made their paintings because you gain insight. And I found that certainly was true of Monet, with Bonnard also, and with Matisse.”
From 1994 through 2018, Leslie painted numerous, more realistic compositions. They include her China Series, Nature Series, Recycled Series, Figures, and Still Life. The subjects are immediately identifiable and relatable, but it wasn’t long before her art began to evolve in an otherworldly way. Just before COVID descended, Leslie attended a Nick Hetko concert. Hetko is a jazz musician and often plays with others in a New York cabaret. As she was listening to the music and watching the group on stage, she suddenly saw them burst into confetti then turned and looked around only to see the audience burst into confetti as well. In an instant, everyone and everything started to float and pixelate together before her eyes. It was a unique and one-of-a-kind experience that has been
That time would come, but first, the pandemic changed everything in 2020. Leslie found herself very alone like so many of us. It was a time of loose ends and the unknown. It was then that she decided to paint what she saw from the inside.
“In a year when our lives were reduced to a room, I painted the window - not what was beyond it, but what was on its surface - the invisible barrier and the cold.”
Her paintings from that period became part of what she called A Year Inside series. In her eyes, the world outside the window was no longer clear and defined. It was a lonely time but one that created an amorphous space for more - more reflection, introspection, and self-discovery for many artists including Leslie.
When the world opened up again, Leslie’s paintings opened up a whole new world. She began working with thousands of small dots of color using oil,
acrylic, and metallic paints on canvas. Her deliberate and beautiful arrangements of small dots created a portal to a world that lives just be yond what our eyes can see. The paintings are magical and emotional and according to Leslie are meant to be experiential.
When asked what her personal mission is with her current work, she shares that she “wants people to experience their most expansive selves.”
And when asked why she paints and creates she replies, “Be cause art saves lives.”
From her first gallery in the basement of her childhood home to her large studio and gallery of today, Leslie’s lifetime of work has been an intoxicating evo lution of
art theory, foundation, exploration, rev elation, and declaration with a healthy dose of courage. The courage to take on challenges and explore them. It has seen her subconscious collide with her present external reality and rede fine it, and it has seen her artist’s brush capture and interpret all of that and more into a galaxy of colorful feelings, inspirations, moments in time, and futuristic musings on canvas.
Leslie encourages you to view her work with an open mind, free of all constraints, and let her canvases be portals to what lies beyond. Feel the sensations. Feel the pull. Feel the emotions. And much like the characters in the fairy tales of child hood, allow yourself to be drawn in and discover what lives on the other side. You may be pleasantly surprised.
To see more of Leslie Parke’s work and be transported into a magical world of your own making, visit her website at www.leslieparke.com where you can also read her blog and purchase her pieces.
You can also follow Leslie and see more of her work on Instagram @parkepaint.
“You’ll Know It’s Real When You See
Fireworks”
by Karen Richman
I had to have driven my parents and teachers crazy, but they were always so patient with me.
Because I was that kid, the one who never accepted fact without asking “Why?” or “How Come?” or getting a really detailed explanation as to why something was the way it was.
At home, it started at an early age, “Why is the sky blue? Why does the sun get turned off at night and the moon gets turned on? How come it’s so hot in July and so cold in January?” And on and on it went. At school, I questioned absolutely everything, and the older I got, it only got worse. It just meant my questions were longer and more detailed. When we were studying state capitals in geography, I questioned my teacher mercilessly as to why Tallahassee could possibly be the capital of Florida when its population was only 202,000, less than half that of Miami at 464,000.
The teacher gave some brief explanations off the top of her head revolving around centers of economic development, or central locations saying state capitals are often chosen for being the center point of a state thus making it convenient for residents to reach government services from any part of the state.
It didn’t work because I countered with, “Then how come the capital of Massachusetts is Boston, way over in the eastern part of the state and not central at all? And right here in New York, Syracuse is dead center geographically of the state, but Albany, 145 miles away and two hours to the east, is the capital.” The teachers couldn’t wait for the school year to end, because the next September, I’d be somebody else’s problem.
Summer vacation brought a whole new set of questions with my childish and then adolescent thirst for knowledge. Sitting on the porch one July 4,th I gazed quietly at the sky. The Milky Way with its stars, dust, and gases was putting on quite a show, but when the sun began to disappear and the sky began to blacken, the real show began. We lived near a local park with a big field and a pond, the perfect place each year to showcase the wonder of Independence Day fireworks. We never had to leave our backyard, we just kept looking up. It was all at once massive and silent, but my parents knew what was coming.
“What exactly are fireworks?” I asked. For once, my father was ready with a special section our local newspaper always printed about the meaning of Independence Day and how it’s been celebrated since 1777, the very first anniversary of our independence from England. When I was very young, Dad told me that God was happy with all of us on earth, and so he was making a lot of noise and lighting up the sky to thank us. As I got older, he read about how fireworks originated some 2000 years ago in China and that they were a concoction of chemicals, gunpowder, metal compounds,
and binders. It all sounded dangerous but mysterious in a very romantic way...and that’s when my mother spoke up.
“From time to time you have asked me how you would know you were in love, how you would know he was the right one. Well, look to the sky for that. When you finally meet someone as special to you as you are to us, the sky will let you know. You’ll know it’s real when you see fireworks.”
I took all that in with just the tiniest grain of salt, but there was no one in my life at the time, so it did seem somewhat fantastical and remote.
The calendar pages flew in front of my face, and suddenly I was celebrating July 4th with a very special man. Someone who’d al ways been around, but I never quite “saw” him before. We had gone all through elementary, junior high, and high school together, and now both of us were on the precipice of college graduation and being catapulted into adulthood and the real world. We had spent the earlier part of the evening sharing a July 4th cookout with our families, but now we were at the nearby park, sitting in his con vertible, top down, on a picture-perfect summer night. In the distance, we could hear music coming from the bandstand as the sky grew darker, and we watched the sun completely disappear behind a blanket of stars. Eventually, the music stopped entirely, and for a few minutes, we could drink in the solitude before the first rocket was fired. Then another and another.
I huddled closer to Sam shielding myself from the breeze that had suddenly come off the pond, and together we looked skyward. The sky was on fire with color as Sam reached into his pocket and produced a small box. He took my chin in his hands and uttered the question for which I already had an answer.
My mother was right. It is indeed real when you see fireworks, and all these years later, we’re still seeing them together...without one single question.
