We were lucky to catch up with Leni Paquet-Morante recently and have shared our conversation below.
Leni, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Like your question about work ethic, my early learned responses (mostly in crisis situations) became habit in adulthood. Not necessarily a good thing, either, and I’ve had to have some reckoning about both because I tend to dig my heels in for better or worse. I suppose the short answer that encompasses both are two things that I refer to often in conversation: 1. If I have a pile of gravel to move, it doesn’t matter to me how big it is; I just start. 2. At around 8 years old I learned the words to Madame Butterfly which has a song in it about how you do the work mattering more than what the work is. Both examples speak to both work ethic and resilience because, at least how I see it, resilience is about managing outlook on that proverbial pile of gravel, which somehow in life can seem to grow even as we dig into it! All that said, it takes an awful lot of stamina and some days and years are better than others. My family and friends have egged me on from day one and that’s been a wonderful experience.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a full time artist making contemporary interpretations of landscape through painting, sculpture, drawing, and monoprint projects. Complex light and structure relationships found within shallow water systems reflect my own perspectives on life, especially though flipped perspectives and shifting, sometimes broken images. My work focuses on those tender environments as muse for what I term constructed landscapes. I propose familiar forms in odd relationships to each other and the viewer, proposing the question “where do I stand”. The strong vertical as a simplified tree may well be advising the viewer as to where they stand, offering perspective and stability. These also convey my love of drawing, utilizing a broad brushstroke to both define elements in the compositions and become individuals in and for themselves.
I quit my full time job in 2018 to be self-employed selling my paintings and was fortunate to be accepted into the Johnson Atelier Studio Program which is where I do the bulk of my work. (I had attended the Johnson Atelier art foundry as a student in the mid 1980’s so this felt like “coming home”!) I also attend residencies, teach for community art centers, and sell my work at art fairs. The skill set that making and selling art entails is as wide as for any other kind of business and though I’ve honed my understanding over time, social media is still somewhat puzzling!
The urgency that I have about my work comes, I think, from having put my career on hold while I raised a family and renovated two houses with my husband, also a sculptor/educator. I wouldn’t do it differently, by the way – it was a solid choice. However, I do approach my practice as if I’m making up for lost time and I suppose that suits my personality anyway. As a mature woman, I’m keenly aware of a window of opportunity – both physical and mental – and don’t want to waste any of it.
I share my journey like most artists do, through social media, but also through conversation which is why I enjoy the art fair gig. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had mini mentoring sessions with young artists about how to get started, and with more mature women who are questioning how to get back to their own put-off agendas and who find comfort and encouragement in our short talks. I also make paintings outdoors from life (which I do to stay tuned to nuanced color and light shifts) and I enjoy talking to the curious passers-by that find me.
What’s special about what I do? In many respects I think what’s most special is that I have been privileged to have this opportunity at all, because certainly it could go away at any time. One never knows what’s around the corner. I aim to work as hard as I can to make work that feels authentic and good; to question it often; to ensure that how I make it is what defines who I am.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I’ve always known how to sell. That’s likely because I was raised seeing my mother and her sister sell their art and so never had the proverbial shyness that many artists have about showing and pricing their work. I’m a pretty good communicator. Being able to convey artistic intent and to simplify the complex thought is essential to writing a good artist statement (and yes, I revise often!) and composing compelling grant requests (yes, I’m still waiting on one!)
I’ve got a good range of skills including wood working which comes in handy for making beautiful frames, a step that saves my customer a good bit of money. I tell them “buy art not frames” so of course, I need to back that up by providing one!
Selling isn’t easy and one can take a no-sale event as a personal assault which is a big mistake; it’s never personal. The economy is complicated and people are fickle. Sometimes it takes three times showing up before the public is comfortable approaching you.
Where writing is concerned, practice, practice, practice. Keep all your versions. What rings true one day may not the next, and yet, beautifully written sentiments have a way of cropping up ahead of their time and becoming true in your work eventually.
Learn new skills, stretch into unfamiliar territory, challenge your notions. Make some bad art. It will make the good work better.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I’m always happy to partner and collaborate with individuals and organizations that are placing artwork
Interior designers for commissions and sales of existing work.
Organizers of percent-for-art spending for public art installations.
Education centers for workshops and residencies.
You can find me on Instagram @lenimakespaintings which I attend to regularly and by email [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lenimorante.com
- Instagram: @lenimakespaintings
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lenimorante
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/leni-paquet-morante-ba85b0b/
Image Credits
Leni Paquet-Morante
