Leslie Farber works on creating hand-painted Christmas cards for family and close friends. (Photo by LaVerne Kyriss)
Leslie Farber’s Best of Show painting, You’re late (Photo by LaVerne Kyriss)
LaVerne Kyriss
“When I got the contest notice, I decided it would be fun to take part,” said Leslie Farber. “My plan was to do a realistic representation of the door in the photo. I told my husband Jim about my idea and he just laughed,” she smiled.
She got out her watercolor palette and paper and went to work. “The door just tilted. I didn’t plan it. And then the steps started out wide and got narrower,” she explained. “You have to have an appointment to get in. The door opens and closes itself. If you’re late, the door doesn’t let you in.”
Farber’s watercolor, You’re late, won Best of Show in the beginner’s category in the SaddleBrooke Fine Arts Guild’s “One Image, No Limits” show.
“Makes me want to look at it more. It’s well balanced, creative, and execution and composition are good. The concept is very amusing,” show judge Laurie Bressler commented.
Farber said she was surprised to win anything, let alone Best of Show.
“I’m always surprised when anyone likes my art and more so when someone wants to buy a piece,” she said.
Farber said she started drawing realistic pictures in her 20s. They lived in rural Oregon and she said she drew cows. Farber put away her drawing pencils until they moved to SaddleBrooke. Then about four years ago, she took an art class on painting a Picasso face from fellow Art Guild member and teacher Robbie Summers.
“Something in me sparked. After that class, I completed a painting a day for 45 days. I’ve slowed down some but have done more than 100. They’re all abstracts, mostly people but sometimes critters,” she said. “My first abstract pieces were very busy. They’re getting plainer and plainer the more I do.”
Farber said she paints when the mood strikes her, not keeping to any particular schedule.
“I get an idea and then I have to do it. Sometimes it’s a drawing and that’s enough and sometimes it turns into a painting,” she said. She’s an intuitive creator, noting, “I open my watercolor palette and whatever color hits, that’s what I use. I don’t know where the ideas come from. I don’t plan them. They just happen.”
Farber noted that she’s taken a few other art classes, but they didn’t suit her. “I once took a collage class. The very good instructor gave us detailed step-by-step directions on what to do. I came home with paste in my hair and bits of paper all over me. It was a mess,” she laughed.
“It’s a matter of finding your space,” she said, explaining that the Guild offers classes for all levels. “The teachers can teach people who don’t know anything about art. They are positive and encouraging and expect great things of you,” she added. “It’s amazing what you come home with.”
The 20 entries into the Guild’s contest are now featured in the Road Runner gallery located in the SaddleBrooke One clubhouse. For more information about Guild activities, visit their website at www.saddlebrookefinearts.org.