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Lel Newman Artist

Modern New Media Abstracts

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Artist Bio – Leslie K. Newman

Leslie (Lel) Newman was born in Berkeley, California, grew up in a Seattle suburb, and after 25 years in Seattle, now lives and works surrounded by nature in Indianola, Washington. She brings a fresh approach to her expressive, abstract iPad paintings, mixed-media originals, and modernist “Shapemaking” prints. Her career as a designer and illustrator and many years of art study with expressive painter Barbara Fugate inform her work. 

In 2017 she completed an Instagram 100-day art challenge, creating and posting an original abstract daily. This experience energized and pushed her to reach new creative heights, including exhibiting her work in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, and North Kitsap. She completed her fourth 100-day art challenge in 2021, 100 Days of Abstract Sketchbook. Follow her art journey on Instagram: @leslienewman

Artist Statement

Abstraction is freedom. Without the constraints of representation, I explore space, form, line, and color, creating artwork that invites a long look and sparks imagination. I leave it to the viewer to dive in and discover their mood and meaning and hope it provides escape from the frenetic state of today’s world.

I use and am inspired by new media digital tools, methods of global online sharing such as Instagram, and digital and traditional painting. My process, while intuitive, draws on fundamental art principles. I aim to create compositions that are energetic and unexpected. Some of my influences include Matisse’s cut-outs, mid-century art and design, and the works of Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Mitchell, Stuart Davis, and David Hockney.

I look to art to inspire, surprise, and bring forth a wave of feeling that reminds us of our wondrous existence. I feel it in my process of creating these works. I hope the viewers of my work share in this sense of wonder.

Shows & Exhibitions

Group: 4×4 Art by Design, Northwind Art Jeanette Best Gallery, Port Townsend WA, Summer 2022

Juried: Bainbridge Island Studio Winter Tour 2021

Juried: Art in the Woods Studio Tour, Indianola, WA, Nov 2021

Juried: 2021 CVG Show, Bremerton, WA, Jan-Feb 2021

Juried: Bainbridge Island Studio Winter Tour 2020 (online)

Juried: 2020 CVG Show, Bremerton, WA, Jan-Feb 2020

Group: Wendy Armstrong Gallery, Bainbridge Island, WA Dec 2019

Juried: Bainbridge Island Studio Winter Tour 2019

Juried: Art in the Woods Studio Tour, Indianola, WA, Nov 2019

Juried: Expressions Northwest, Northwind Art Center, Port Townsend, WA Aug 2019

Solo: Wendy Armstrong Gallery, Bainbridge Island, WA Feb-Mar 2019

Juried: Bainbridge Island Studio Winter Tour 2018

Solo: Fremont Saturn Building, Seattle, WA Aug-Sept 2018

Group: Modern Touch 2, Lynn Hansen Gallery, Seattle WA 2018

Group: Modern Touch, BallardWorks, Seattle, WA 2017

Group: Nine Hands Draw From Life, BallardWorks, Seattle, WA 2007


Land Acknowledgement

I acknowledge that I reside on the traditional territory of the Suquamish Peoples, People of the Clear Salt Water, whose ancestors have lived here from time immemorial. 

Instagram

Cropped to a square is an improvement (image 1). T Cropped to a square is an improvement (image 1). This is the painting shown in previous tape peeling reel post. The exercise is to use linear overlapping shapes (image 3) to jumpstart an abstract oil painting, from the Exploring Abstraction course by Jenny Nelson. None of the original marks are visible btw. 🤓🤷‍♀️
#justcropit #workit #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #jennynelsonartcourse #abstractpainting #oilpainting #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #markmaking #dirtyhandshappyheart #gowithyourflow #makeyourmark
Static images of the painting exercise shown in ye Static images of the painting exercise shown in yesterday’s reel. 
#workit #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #jennynelsonartcourse #abstractpainting #oilpainting #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #markmaking #dirtyhandshappyheart #artworkshop #gowithyourflow #makeyourmark
Now we’re cookin’! 👩‍🍳 This is a new e Now we’re cookin’! 👩‍🍳 This is a new exercise using linear overlapping shapes to jumpstart an abstract oil painting (image 2 ➡️, details 3 & 4 ➡️). Mixed up a specified harmonious palette and added some juicy R&F oil sticks. I’m getting the push I wanted to move my digital abstract work into real world materials. Thanks to the Exploring Abstraction course by Jenny Nelson @nelsonpainter - I’m jazzed! 🤗
#workit #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #jennynelsonartcourse #abstractpainting #oilpainting #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #markmaking #dirtyhandshappyheart #artworkshop #gowithyourflow #makeyourmark
4/4 monochrome oil paint on canvas paper exercise, 4/4 monochrome oil paint on canvas paper exercise, using collage as beginning reference (image 2 ➡️, detail 3 ➡️).
#workit #valuestudy #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #abstractpainting #oilpainting #abstractcollage #blackandwhite #blackandwhiteonly #monochrome #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #dirtyhandshappyheart #artworkshop #gowithyourflow
3/4 monochrome oil paint on canvas paper exercise, 3/4 monochrome oil paint on canvas paper exercise, using collage as beginning reference (image 2 ➡️, detail 3 ➡️).
#workit #valuestudy #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #abstractpainting #oilpainting #abstractcollage #blackandwhite #blackandwhiteonly #monochrome #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #dirtyhandshappyheart #artworkshop #gowithyourflow
Oil paint on canvas paper exercise 2/4, using coll Oil paint on canvas paper exercise 2/4, using collage as beginning reference (image 2 ➡️), and detail image 3. 
#workit #valuestudy #artpracticenotperfection #exploringabstraction #abstractpainting #oilpainting #abstractcollage #blackandwhite #blackandwhiteonly #monochrome #igartist #artoftheday #pnwartist #abstractobsession #exploringabstraction #seattleartpost #dirtyhandshappyheart #artworkshop #gowithyourflow
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It is not a matter of painting life. It’s a matter of giving life to a painting.

— Richard Diebenkorn

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