Leslie Brown Temecula CA Age 70
What keeps you excited in the studio? The act of image making is a very spiritual ritual that both grounds me and invigorates my life. it helps me to interpret meaning and depth in a world that sometimes seems senseless.
Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed? When I was young my work was an outlet for emotional pain, rage and the angst of getting through everyday. Age, experience, creating art and teaching art has helped me to develop a broader understanding of living in gratitude, letting go of the self absorption of youth and that healing comes from giving. Now art making has become an endeavor to empower other women and to help them understand the transformational aspect of art and the feminine spirit.
What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
I think that artists are the barometers of society and culture. As the seers it is up to us to realize and interpret the beauty and hardships of being human.
What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist? Being a professor, I have given this advice over and over again. No one makes you show up in the studio, there is no paycheck waiting and often the only outcome is frustration! Self DISCIPLINE is the most important aspect of being an artist!
Does age matter in art? Why or why not? We live in an unusual time where youth is idolized and age and wisdom trivialized. Some young artists seem born with skill others have to work very hard to obtain it. I think the difference that age makes is in having a better comprehension of why you make art and what it means.
What can we look forward to from you next? I just opened a new studio/gallery in Temecula this week. As retirement from teaching nears I plan to spend every moment possible in the studio and exhibit my own work and the work of other regional artists.
Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life? Art has been my passion, my joy, my comfort, my challenge and my salvation throughout my life. I am grateful for the challenges and rewards it has given me. And I hope that I have given some of my hundreds of students inspiration for a rewarding lifetime of art.
http://www.leslieabrown.com @labart123
Birth of a New Consciousness 107.5″ x 110″ 2015