Meet Leigh Slayden

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Leigh Slayden. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Leigh, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Although an artist since my youth, my career was in business, and during that time I also studied for an art degree. Inexperienced in my chosen media of oil paint, I completed my assignments in oil paint, learning its behavior while allowing myself the freedom to discard these “practice” pieces.

I was never surrounded by an art community that could shake my confidence until my recent (2018) retirement immersed me in my oil painting. I began working on landscape skills, as my prior work focused on the figure–my favorite subject, but nudes do not often sell, so I aimed to build my scope. I joined the St. Augustine Art Association and suddenly was hanging art alongside numerous living masters, and it could be quite humbling as I worked to regain my skills after decades away. Fortunately, artists in Northeast Florida foster a supportive culture in which self-esteem can grow.

The first important step in confidence-building is to turn away from competitive thinking. I reminded myself that, as much as I love an artist’s work, I don’t really want to paint “just like” that person–I wanted to be unique, having my own recognizable style. I already had my own gestural style of brushwork, and I believe in myself, my ideas, and the magic that comes from my brush.

So the second step is to commit to creating–because what people call “talent” comes from practice–in both the medium and the subject matter.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

My work can be described as impressionist, especially with my gestural brushstrokes, but I leverage expressive use of color, creating dimension and mood with color temperature.

In my landscapes, I like to leave viewers with a sense of mystery, awe, or discovery, sharing my feelings while standing in a location I’ve painted. Sometimes I imagine the stories it may hold, and I like to trigger questions in the viewing experience…what is down the path or behind a door. When painting oceans and streams, I feel successful if the piece brings the water’s sound to the viewer’s mind.

Recently I’ve received many portrait commissions, which–mind you–is a very different discipline from anonymous figure work, with its specific expectation of resemblance. Remember what I said about practice? I’m excited to have developed portrait skills that I can offer with confidence.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

In art, I think it’s important to assess one’s success on a personal standard of what you, the artist, love best. Creating art for art’s sake results in a richness that eclipses mere decoration. Ultimately, I need to be proud of my work more than I need to sell it.

Likewise, just as I try to avoid comparing myself in a competitive mindset, I want to avoid creating artwork with a “production” mindset–that is, creating something based on the likelihood of it selling. (IE, “everybody likes flamingos” “tourists want the lighthouse scene”). This diminishes the power of my unique pieces. It’s a harder path to take, but I continue to move in that direction.

This brings me to growth–the ability to evolve, to change, to see things anew, to test and experience different ways of working. Painting en plein air, working alongside fellow artists, is one practice that releases me to evolve my skills and the vision for my own style.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

On my travels to Ireland and UK in 2018, I stopped to paint local scenery once or twice, a way of revelling in the locale. Although I painted in St. Augustine Art Association’s paintout each April, I really didn’t work en plein air much the rest of the year. But 2022 brought my first plans for a full-on artist retreat, plein air painting in the fields and villages of Provence. I got serious, and joined the First Coast Plein Air Painters to build up my speed and skills for completing work in the great outdoors.

Working with these local artist communities has been as valuable as studying masterworks in museum galleries, because I’m constantly exposed to other ways of seeing and working. Going beyond our borders with the Workshops in France group has taken me even further, as the exploration of unfamiliar and ancient places inspires new directions in my artistic style and direction.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://laslayden.com
• Instagram: leigh_slayden
• Facebook: Leigh Slayden, Artist
• Linkedin: leighslayden