That Crazy Art Lady

Artist Statement

Leslee Cramer
Artist Statement unreal surreal

Timeless and tasteful or modern and messy, my mixed media collages demand to be noticed. Layers of bold color, rich textures, and elements of art history, these small works draw you in closer.

I use a multi-layered decoupage process on 6"x6" canvas to create textured, colorful collages that feature elements of art history. I'm inspired by color, texture, nature and images from famous paintings.

In this collection, I've focused on merging images cut from art history books I used to keep in my high school classroom from my teaching years. Combining elements of art history with color, texture, and shapes together in a new way forces the viewer to get closer to see all that is happening on the small canvas. Its as if a image from a famous painting woke up in a swirly, surreal dream surrounded by color and strange, but familiar objects.
Forget the demure, these collages burst with energy and life, layer upon layer of evolution and growth. They challenge your expectations of every day.

Biography

THAT CRAZY ART LADY
Leslee Cramer: Artist Statement
Leslee Cramer is a retired art educator from Maryland and new resident of Florida. She taught Visual Arts and Ceramics for 25 years at the high school level before retiring to Gulfport to focus on being a full-time artist while healing from a traumatic brain injury.
"I've been living a new normal for the last 5 years and it has taken time to accept that I no longer have a career as a teacher. I'm blessed to have the abilities I'm left with and I consider it a gift. The focus and direction of my art has shifted since relocating to Florida and finding a new beginning."
Before becoming injured, Leslee created large acrylic paintings of animals, large ceramic sculptures, and painted furniture. However, new struggles with fine motor skills prompted her to return to clay as therapy. She started making smaller ceramic wares, trinket trays, and holiday ornaments inspired by the sea. From there she expanded into ceramic jewelry with porcelain and cobalt blue. She creates textures on her pieces with antique, crocheted lace, seashells and found objects.
Most recently, Leslee has added mixed media collage creations to her body of work. Timeless and tasteful, or modern and messy, her collages demand to be examined more closely. Using a multi-layered process on 6"x6" canvas that incorporates bold color, rich textures, and elements of art history, her new work draws the viewer in. "In this collection, I've focused on merging images cut from the art history books I have from my high school teaching days. These historical images, along with color, texture, shape and objects decoupaged together in a new way invites a closer look to see all that is happening on the small canvas. It's as if a famous painting woke up in the midst of surreal dream."
Very much like her own journey as an artist, Leslee's collages burst with energy and life, include elements of the past, and are created through layer upon layer of evolution and growth.

Exhibition History (CV)