Interview
Lesley Altheuser
Lesley is a 22 year old woman. She lives in Missouri. She grew up with a dad, a mom, gardens, chickens, and bunnies. Lesley likes the outdoors. She loves creating artwork in her room or on the back deck. She took art classes in school. Through art teachers, research, her mother, and experimenting, she’s gained knowledge to develop her skills. She bought some new supplies too. She loves bright colors, rainbows, different mediums, and expressing who she is. Lesley loves to feature hummingbirds, other birds, butterflies, horses, rocking horses, hibiscus, and other flowers in her work. She loves animals and nature. She loves creativity, positivity, and imagination. Lesley wants her artwork to reflect joy and make people smile. She loves hanging up the art in her room, or wearing her jewelry around town. She wants the world to see her for who she is. Art is a part of her life.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I've always liked creating art. It's very fun and relaxing to sit down with art supplies to create something. However, ‘Mama Walsh’ my high school art teacher really got me into art. She is the best art teacher I've ever had in school. Out of all the art teachers, she is the most helpful and supportive. I really enjoy doing my own thing with art. I started experimenting with different mediums like prisma pencils, pens, markers, ink, highlighters, water color paint, acrylic paint, and 3D objects. I specialize in clipart, horses, rocking horses, hummingbirds, butterflies, and hibiscus art pieces. I do self portraits, pet paintings, and some landscapes. I tried mixing different mediums to make new artwork. I also make jewelry. I love expressing myself while also making art that makes people smile. I started to make art for fun. Now, I make art for fun and to sell. I recently created an Instagram account to continue my journey. I want to show off a few things about my life along with electronically displaying my different types of art. I do pop-art, clipart, and realistic pieces. I wanted to expand my art by trying clipart mixed with pop-art. I wanted to try more pen, ink, and marker designs. I wanted to do more than just paint. I wanted to have a different variety of art styles and mediums to expand my art and show the world what I enjoy doing. I love making art. I love being myself. It really makes me happy. Art is more than a hobby. It's a part of my life.”
What does your work aim to say? Does it comment on any current social or political issues?
“My artwork expresses who I am and brings people joy. I do not focus on social or political issues. I do not focus on the stress of modern day society. Sadly, technology, the government, and negativity has taken over the world. People tend to forget about the beauty of animals and nature. For those reasons, I create mostly landscape, hibiscus, horse, butterfly, and hummingbird artwork. I also do pet and plant paintings. I also create some vibrant pop-art of clipart flowers. I leave reality to explore shapes and vibrant colors. I step back to appreciate nature, animals, positivity, and fantasy. My art reflects my personality, imagination, and the forgotten beauties of the earth.”
Do you plan your work in advance, or is it improvisation?
“I do plan some art in advance and improv other pieces. I improv most of my clipart flower pop-art. I may have an idea of what I want to create, but I usually see what happens. I plan most of my nature and animal artwork in advance. I decide what animal I want to use. For example, I may want to feature a hummingbird or butterfly. Next, I chose my mediums like paint or markers. Then I put my plan into action. I can make a small piece in a day. Other times, I need several days to complete a detailed art piece. It depends on the mediums, the size of the canvas, and the ideas circulating in my mind. Paint takes longer to dry. If I use markers, pens, highlighters, or pencils, then I do not have to wait as long for the next step. Whether it's on the spot or planned days ahead, I just enjoy the art process.”
“Hummingbirds are special. They are one of my favorite animals. Dad and I watched the hummingbirds every spring until he died. We both love making hummingbird art. I love the vibrant colors and details.”
Are there any art world trends you are following?
“I usually do not stay up to date on art trends. I just do my own thing. I make realistic art pieces of animals or nature. Other times, I make clipart flower pop-art pieces. I have different styles. I use different mediums. I make different kinds of art regardless of what is popular at the moment.”
What process, materials and techniques do you use to create your artwork?
“First, I decide what I want to feature in the artwork. I usually pick from butterflies, hummingbirds, horses, or toy horses. I have done dragonflies and other birds. I may add a flower like a hibiscus when I feature a bird. Other times the flower is the center piece. Next, I decide if I want to use paper or a canvas. Then, I chose my mediums. I use prisma pencils, pens, markers, highlighters, or different paints. I usually do a highlighter, water color, or white background. Then, I complete the background and basic images. I do plain colors, then the shading, then the details. I step back from the art to see if I missed anything. The frame comes last. I usually prefer a basic black or white frame. I do not want it to draw attention away from the art.”
What does your art mean to you?
“Art is a part of my life. It's a way for me to express myself. It's a fun, long, relaxing, creative process to make something cool. Art to my mind is like yoga to the body. It's like a fun project mixed with meditating. Sometimes, complex art pieces are a fun challenge to test and improve my skills. I just really enjoying making art. I like the process and the end results.”
What’s your favourite artwork and why?
“I really love my hummingbird art piece. I used a blue watercolor background with a prisma pencil hummingbird and flower. It has a white frame and a hint of red-violet marker in the flower. It's one of the first mixed medium art pieces I created. Plus my dad loved it. We loved watching hummingbirds outside every spring. They are my favorite bird. I love featuring hummingbirds in my artwork. My other favorite piece is an acrylic pointillist black and yellow butterfly with gold specs of paint on the wings. I love butterflies. It's also one of my first butterflies I've painted. I love the gold accent. I like the green background and the flower below. Both paintings are super special and took a while to complete all the details.”
Instagram: @lesley.glittergirl
