Check out Léonie Little-Lex’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Léonie Little-Lex.

Léonie, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As with most visual artists I started drawing and painting when I was young, and continued with it through high school. At first I thought I couldn’t make art a career and told myself I should major in something “safer” like psychology. Luckily I had great teachers and my mother telling me to go for it, so I followed my dream and went to art school.

My background is in illustration. I decided about four years ago (after a period of realization) that I wanted to really develop my own work as a fine artist. There was always a strong storytelling aspect to my art and my years in illustration allowed me to finesse that. Teaching at the Brookline Arts Center has exposed me to artists working in a wide range of methods and materials, so I’ve gotten to experiment with various media in finding my artistic voice.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I create atmospheric landscapes that transcend the ordinary. Sometimes my work is subtly surreal and other times it’s very fantastical. I work in a meticulous method and incorporate lots of small detail. People have told me that they would lose patience working that way, but for me the process is soothing and a piece would feel incomplete without rich visual information.

My wish is for people to connect to my art in their own personal way. So far, a variety of people of all ages and from different walks of life have responded positively to my work, which makes me a very happy artist. I don’t want to make art just for the art world.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I absolutely think the role of artists has changed, but I see it more as a gradual one in the last Century or two. For most of our history, artists were primarily making religious imagery. The role of the artist was to promote or communicate a spiritual message from a Church, Shaman, mythology, or to glorify a powerful person (usually using religious context). Now that’s no longer the case, and art can really be about anything, although you’ll rarely find a sincerely religious piece in a contemporary art museum or gallery.

My art is driven by nature, I see natural wonder in a magical way. I am troubled by climate change, overdevelopment and the negative impact this administration has on environmental policy. While my work is mostly serene and celebrative, there is an undercurrent of those darker aspects present.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
My latest work is being shown in the Annex at Fountain Street Gallery. The exhibit runs from 8/29-9/30 with a reception on Sept. 7th (First Friday) from 6-8 pm. I also have work on display at Woodman/Shimko Gallery in Provincetown and at Filomena Demarco Jewelry in Somerville. We have an annual faculty exhibit at the Brookline Arts Center, from 9/28-11/2, that I’ll be taking part in.

Other works can be seen at www.leoniearts.com and I consistently update my Instagram to show works in progress @leoniearts. Purchasing and commission info is available through my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leonieart.com
• Email: leonie.littlelex@gmail.com
• Instagram: @leoniearts
• Facebook: @leonielittlelexart

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