Our featured artist for the Spring/Summer 2009 issue of Segullah, which should be arriving in your mailboxes shortly, is Leslie Graff. Since she co-edits the Segullah blog and is a regular poster and commenter around these parts, most of our readers already know Leslie. I’ve known Leslie since we were assigned the same dorm room in BYU’s Deseret Towers in the fall of 1993, and we’ve been best friends ever since. So the challenge of interviewing Les is both really fun and a little bit weird, because I already know what she’s going to say; we’ve been talking about art ever since she filled up our entire student apartment (and her minivan) with art supplies and we started skipping the Humanities class we took together for trips to the BYU Museum of Art, where we’d walk through the galleries, eat Caesar Salad, and sing the praises of self-education.

SM: I know that you look at yourself not just as an artist, but as a woman artist. Can you explain how you feel that your womanhood is central to your art?

LG: My art is very relational, systemic, and organic which I consider representative of me as a woman. My pieces are personal, and often inspired by everday exchanges. I chose to pursue my art more intently after experiencing years of loss in my life. For me it was a deliberate, conscious choice to bring creation, and growth out of a difficult, life-altering experience. Many of the valuable experiences in my life as a woman are not quantifiable in clear, concrete, measurable ways. Rather, I trade mostly in the commodities of emotion and connection, I like to explore that visually. I use repeated shapes and symbols to represent the accumulation of small things that give meaning to our lives and composite into a greater whole.

SM: Talk a little bit about the how motherhood affects your art and art affects your mothering.

I find my mothering and art have a very reciprocal and symbiotic relationship. I feel joy from creating art which refreshes me as a mother. In turn my mothering inspires my art. My greatest creative burst, actually came after the birth of my third child. Mothering is preeminent for me; I generally only paint at night when my boys are asleep, because the focus that is required for a piece can be somewhat consuming and distracting. I can’t balance it well with being fully present in my interactions with my little boys.  Having a studio in my home, art is a very natural, touchable, everyday thing for my three sons. They are constantly creating alongside me. They don’t have the same respect for my work though, they have been known to commandeer my large paintings for matchbox car ramps and forts. I appreciate how the creative process models for my boys risk-taking, attempts, failures, starting over, exploration, and perseverance.

SM: As an LDS artist, what are your views on LDS art in general, and in your place within the body of LDS artists.

There are many LDS artists, with amazing talent. I am excited by the greater variety of work emerging from LDS artists . Visual art has always seemed less prominent than say music in LDS culture. Traditionally the art  has been fairly literal and focused in realism and relatively limited in terms of subject matter.  I hope it continues to expand to develop into an even richer, more encompassing body of work. One that makes use of a wide range of styles, artistic traditions, and subjects, and that explores not only people, places, or events but also that communicates the feelings, beliefs, and impressions of faith. So much of faith involves things that are not concrete or tangible which is why I tend to employ alot of symbolism in my work.  Art is a tool to help us become more fluent in understanding symbols and finding meaning on a variety of levels. I love how abstraction invites personalization and creates unique meaning for each viewer. Many of  my pieces I consider religious, although they are not overtly so, for me the framework of my belief is essential to understanding the purpose or context of the symbols. Like my aspen paintings, which explore the journey of mortality and the play autonomy and agency, or my reaching tree series which are representations of the power and generative influence of women.  

SM: Tell us about the studio nights you host in your home.

LG: Sometimes I boast that my little New England ward has over the years had what I’d guess to be the largest percentage of LDS women painting on canvas anywhere in the world. I have introduced many women to painting I love studio nights because I am very passionate about empowering women, helping them discover their own creativity.

Most people stop doing formal “art” when they leave junior high or high school. Studio night is a great opportunity to continue to expand understanding of art and aesthetics. I want to dispel the limiting belief that art has to be beautiful or look just like something to be good art,  to help others understand that value and meaning in art can come when it evokes emotion from the viewer or fills a need in the creator. My professional background is in therapeutic play, so I seestudio night is kind of like my version of a quilting bee, filling needs for competency and generativity in women but also serving as a therapeutic forum that allows for a lot of sharing, teaching, and support in all aspects of our lives. We very much retain our context as women and mothers, there has frequently been a baby on the floor or being nursed amid the painting.

I try to help people see themselves as artists. It is amazing how this influences their children as well.  I have often heard the children of moms I have held studio with remark, “My mom is an artist, she is the best painter.” My encouragement is always to not be afraid of the risk. There are so many great mediums you can work in and so many styles to explore, most people can find something they can feel successful doing in visual arts. So if you’re near my studio, you might just wind up with a brush in your hand.

Related posts:

1. Artistic Taste (or lack thereof)
2. Interview with Featured Artist Lee Bennion
3. Down to an Art

Here is a portion of Segullah’s recent conversation with Rose.

You’re a full-time mother and a part-time artist. Is this the career path you always envisioned for yourself?

I’ve always liked to draw and paint, but I originally went into filmmaking. I did end up getting my degree at Virginia Commonwealth University in art history and fine arts — I just kept getting rerouted to my original love, which is drawing and painting.

I joined the Church when I was 19, so that changed my career track. I got married during my senior year, then six months later I got pregnant and I was thrust into motherhood. I think in the back of my mind I knew I never wanted to be a career mom, but joining the church and getting married and having children so soon altered my expectations. But it was all good because it was all meant to be.

As a successful example of working while raising children, I’m sure you’re often asked how you balance it all.

I’ve had conversations with other LDS women artists about how to factor art into your life when you have young children — and I think I just fumble through it like everybody else does! After I had my first daughter, I backed off from working and tried to fit my art in whenever I could — and that wasn’t very often. Having a child in general is challenging. Nobody gave me a handbook on expectations. You’re exhausted just trying to be a mom. My husband was in grad school, and we were balancing that plus Church callings.

All my kids are in school now, so my time is used a little bit differently. But I still don’t do it full time. The time goes by just like that — you fill it with visiting teaching, household things, taking kids to appointments. The best way I can describe my life is a series of interruptions. Finding a big block of time for art is not always possible. It’s an hour here or a couple of stolen hours of energy at night. I used to think there was a magic formula to fit it in every day. But you can’t wear the artist’s smock all the time. There are periods when I just can’t get behind the canvas.

You’ve had your work published in magazines like the Ensign and you’ve won major awards for your paintings. What are some of the religious subjects you devote your time to?

A lot of the pieces I do with the Church in mind take months and months of research. I started a study on the likeness of Joseph Smith years ago and it’s ongoing. That could mean reading about his life or listening to devotionals about him and his character, reading studies based on his familial resemblance — I even built a clay reconstruction bust of Joseph Smith. This series is in a lot of ways about me wanting to get to know the prophet. I have been unsatisfied with his likeness in most paintings. I want to take a scientific look and leave no stone unturned to get a likeness that is consistent. I think his likeness is elusive for a reason — it makes people want to explore the prophet

I also have a series on Adam and Eve that’s about mortality and the significance of the temples and reading between the lines. It’s about what Adam and Eve agreed to do.

The beautiful painting that was recently purchased by the Church came from your series on Mary, Joseph, and the boy Christ. What is this piece about?

It’s from a mother’s point of view in a way — it’s a commentary about parenting in a lot of ways. Yes, it’s about the boy Savior and his flight into Egypt, but I like to find more metaphors. I’m a parent of teenagers and I want so much to protect my kids. Sometimes you actually have to move them out of harm’s way and that’s what the flight to Egypt is all about. They literally moved the child and the family out of danger, so sometimes that’s what you have to do — you have to tell your kids, “Come ye out from the wicked.”

The painting is now part of the museum’s permanent collection. I don’t win awards that often and I was surprised when they called. I invested my soul into the painting and spent so much time preparing, and I didn’t really expect to get anything out of it. It’s the biggest award I’ve ever received.

Related posts:

1. A Short Biography
2. Enough
3. Reciprocity: Angels Among Us

Here at Segullah, we’re giddy about our new issue of the journal. We love the essays, articles and poems; and Lee Bennion’s artwork makes the print edition a thing of beauty. We can’t quite believe our luck to have Lee Bennion, one of the most highly-respected and well-loved contemporary LDS painters, as our featured artist. It was my pleasure to interview Lee over the last few weeks, and from a writer’s perspective I appreciate seeing how Bennion’s approach to visual arts also applies to writing and other creative pursuits. Her website, Horseshoe Mountain Pottery, showcases her art and gives readers a glimpse into her life.

It’s obvious from looking at your art, with its landscapes and nature images, that you’re a “western” artist. How does being part of a rural community in the west influence your life and work?

Where I live is a huge part of who I am. Probably almost as big as my family is a part of who I am. There are ups and downs living within any community or groups as there is in one’s family life. I love you calling me a “western” artist as I think of myself as a westerner. I grew up in California’s Central Valley in a town called Merced. It was a lot like Orem where my husband grew up, both agricultural towns that by the time we had graduated from high school had become giant strip malls. We both were disillusioned by the change in our hometowns and wanted to find a place that would hopefully in our lifetime stay a quiet small town.

We chose well in Spring City. I still love it here and express gratitude to God every day that I live in this beautiful place that has clean air, water, views, access to the mountains, and a sense of history that I can connect with. Living here, raising my family here, has had a profound influence on my life, our lives, and my work.

You went back to school and finished your BFA after having your girls. How did you balance school and motherhood?

It was tough, but I loved it. I tried going back to school in September of 1977, just a few weeks after my eldest was born. After two weeks, I dropped out. Commuting from Spring City, trying to nurse a baby and being a greenhorn mom and full-time art major just wasn’t working. Something had to give and it was a no-brainer that it was school. Those motherhood instincts and hormones are very powerful and good. I was learning tons being a mother. I also read a lot during those years that my two oldest girls were small. I had only taken my first painting class the last semester before I dropped out, and I was still very intimidated by it and didn’t have the courage or drive to make time for it with my life as a mother.

In 1983, my husband decided that he was going back to school for his MFA. My heart leapt and I instantly decided that I would return to BYU as well to finish my BFA. I didn’t need the degree so much as I wanted to get back to drawing and painting, and I knew that school would be a good jump start for me as I am a diligent student. It worked. By the time I graduated in 1986, I was working enough and integrating it in with my life that I knew that I wouldn’t stop when I was done with school.

Who were your early influences and your influences today?

Ella Peacock was a dear friend and mentor to me when I first moved to Spring City. She taught me how to stretch canvas and tone them, how to properly clean and care for my paint brushes and most importantly, how to construct and carve frames. She was also a great example of someone who integrated her life and her painting. She also couldn’t care less what people thought of her, and was a bit of a loner, although definitely a part of our community. I related to her better than I did the young women my age in town. She was my best friend here for years. I have always admired Minerva Teichert too. I didn’t know her, but I sure love the way she lived her life.

When did you feel you hit your stride as an artist?

I feel like I have hit my stride many times, and then lost it for a while and then come back further ahead down the trail. When I was out of school I hardly produced any art work other than a few sketches of my children. I was terrified going back, thinking I would be way behind all these students who were immersed in school. I quickly realized that my skills had not diminished and that my work was better than it was when I had left it. I also had an advantage over most of the students. Their biggest problem was “What do I paint or draw?” I had no problem with that as I had a rich and full life to draw upon.

What is it like to be in your studio? Set the scene for us.

Right now I am using Ella Peacock’s home as my temporary studio. It is still very much as it was when Ella lived there. Her easel and last unfinished painting are there in the corner. Sometimes I feel like she is there, itchy to talk to me and paint on that canvas. Every September the local artists group hosts a studio tour. My studio, along with about 20+ others, will be open that day. Go to http://springcityarts.com/ for more information.

Would you be able to break down your process from inspiration to completed work?

Somewhere along the process of painting, I let go of who or what I am painting and let it dictate to me what it needs, how it feels. I know this sounds weird and that the painting doesn’t have a personality, but I have to let go of what I think it should be and what I see in the photo or sketch I might have used to get started, and react to the line and colors and let it become a painting, not just a resemblance of someone or something. I want to let my feelings about that person, place or thing bubble up through the paint by how it is applied, the color choices, everything!

Sometimes this happens very freely and quickly. Other times it is a struggle. I love starting paintings. That is usually easy and fun. Finishing is sometimes harder, knowing when to stop. Does it really need that last touch? Sometimes I just don’t feel right about something and will scrape off huge areas when I have had a canvas against the wall in a finished state for a while. That is hard to do, but I am mostly relieved and happier with the results. Sometimes it takes a while to figure things out. I usually have about four to six pieces going at a time. I often figure out what I need to do for one painting while working on another.

How would you encourage LDS women to develop their creativity, either in the visual arts or in other creative avenues?

Do prod your self out of idleness. If you have that urge to write, dance, paint or make music and it just isn’t fitting in, try to figure out how you can. On the other hand, don’t beat yourself up if the time is just not right for these things and you don’t feel a burning urge to do them. Don’t let others dictate what your time frame should be. If you are immersed in raising children, enjoy it and learn all you can from it. You will know when it is time to start weaving back into your art. Some are just able to do the two together all along. We are all different. Listen to your soul and what brings you peace and joy.

I know that when my first two girls were young, I really didn’t think about painting or drawing much for about five or six years. But as they got a little older, I was feeling the need and used school as a way to get going again. Motherhood was totally satisfying for me as a woman, and as an artist. All good things will work for your benefit and find expression in your life somehow. I like that line “All truth can be circumscribed into one great whole.” I look at art and life this way. Art is what comes out of that receptacle of truth and light.