I was born and raised in Camp Hill, PA. My art education was pretty much non-existent except for a class taught at the Art Association of Harrisburg by Mr. Leo Gilroy. He was a professional portrait artist and taught me quite a lot. In fact, though I started the class when I was fifteen; he was very obviously and a bit delightedly impressed with my ability. I was even selling portraits on my own by the time I turned sixteen; and yes I still do portraits to this day: though, not so many as I once did. It’s a very demanding thing, portraiture, and exhausting…even when you’re considered good at it.

Education

At eighteen I attended Kutztown University as a Studio Art Major. What I find funny is that originally when I applied (I applied late, I admit it), I was told they didn’t have any room in the Fine Arts program. I decided that I really didn’t care and that I would enroll in their English Literature program instead; but, I then received a phone call from their administration indicating that after a review of my portfolio, they felt that to place me in any major outside the arts would be inappropriate; thus I was given a spot in the Studio Arts program. It was pretty much the same thing: just a few minor differences in core requirement classes. What’s funny is that after a few semesters I decided that I HATED being an Art Major and swapped out of art into—you guessed it—the English Lit. department. I now have my BA in English.

Move To Santa Fe

After graduating, I moved, rather idiotically, to Santa Fe, NM, with my then boyfriend. Santa Fe was AMAZING. The boyfriend, not so much. I don’t think I’ve ever been so depressed in my life since that time. I don’t think it’s even really possible. Unfortunately, I didn’t know then what I know now and moved back to PA because Santa Fe was way too expensive. Fortunately, however, I ended up moving in with my parents and the schmuck moved in with his, 45-minutes to an hour away. We broke up. He was my first boyfriend, though, so it took a while. Gladly, after about a year…I was free!

To Paint Again!

Then, I finally moved into my own apartment and began to paint again. Within a year I had sold at least three paintings (two of which were bought by a really good friend of mine but that’s beside the point because he still really loves them and everyone that comes over to his house is still impressed by them); won an award in an Art Association Body of Art show; and hooked up with a great gallery: The 2nd Floor Gallery in Mechanicsburg.

Feeding Myself Based On My Talents

That’s when I decided that I wasn’t very good at being a waitress or a customer service representative or any kind of service industry person and needed to find a way to feed myself based on my talents…Although, let me just say that the talents of restaurant workers should never be underestimated; these workers are often, sadly, undervalued…but, I know they’re some of the smartest, most beautiful , most capable people I have ever met while working as a server in some capacity or another, at some restaurant or another…and these people are truly amazing.

How Much Should We Know About An Artist?

I should also mention that ordinarily I am opposed to this sort of thing. I’m not sure how I feel talking about my personal life in a forum where (hopefully?) many complete strangers can read it. I still have strong feelings about whether or not someone really needs to know an artist in order to appreciate her work. I have this somewhat idyllic and, perhaps, naive notion that if someone likes the way something looks…that should be enough. It isn’t, though.

Painting is a very personal thing which evokes emotion in everyone. I suppose it’s only natural, then, that a person would want to understand the person behind the image: at least a bit. And I have to admit, all of this is kind of fun. Very cathartic.

I hope this serves well as an introduction to me. Believe me you will be learning more about me as things progress (in terms of my life as well as this website).

The Concept Of “Favorites”

Here’s a bit more about me…I love my my Golden Retriever Usul: either you get the reference or you don’t. I love my Fiancee Josh even more (which honestly…this is the first guy I’ve met who could topple my dog from the top of the totem pole, which is probably why I want so very much to marry him. No offense to those of you I have dated that I actually liked…

I don’t have a favorite color, or food, or favorite anything, because I believe life is too huge and diverse and I am far too flaky to ever pick “favorites” of anything…it goes without saying that I like a lot of different types of music; but, I hate country (except for Johnny Cash and other old-school too cool to believe that it’s considered to be country music). I have a really crappy car that doesn’t go because I stopped driving it and apparently you have to drive them at least a little in order for them to keep working.  I get-up very early, which is not natural to my system at all, so that I can drive Josh to work, which is fine because it’s cheaper than paying for parking and I then get to have the working vehicle during the day.  I tend to dress like a scrub and I have paint on every article of clothing I own.  This is not any kind of statement or an attempt to look “artsy” I just happen to have body issues and feel I look better dressed down as opposed to up.  Plus, I really, really dislike having to dress-up for anything, because dresses just look weird on me( and make me feel really uncomfortable) and make-up has a tendency to hydroplane in funky ways on my face, so it’s just no good.

Friendly And Happy And Alive!

I like good high quality beer, but I can’t drink much anymore now that I’m older (4 and I’m done, son)…so shelling out for the good stuff doesn’t hurt me much. These days, though, I tend to stick with a glass or two of white wine, although I’ve been having some issues with Carpal Tunnel(no not from painting, it’s in my left hand and I’m right handed) so I have to stick to non-oak cured whites.

Any-hoo!  That should do for now. Please feel free to write me if you want to communicate further, and have a look at my gallery pages as everything you see  IS for sale as either an original or print!

Rebecca Lesny
RebeccaLesny.com

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