Defining Challenges, Ideas, and Success
Cutting right to the nitty gritty of art creation, Leslie established that while he doesn’t have a nailed-down process for art creation and depends on spontaneity and eureka moments, most of his ideas come from his lucid dreams or while taking a drive and sometimes just working in the garden.
“The spark of an idea is like a nagging itch, and it just gets worse and worse until I need to put it on canvas.”
His biggest challenge as an artist is, like many others, income and sustenance. While there is an undeniable love for the craft, there is the scare of falling into the ‘starving artist’ niche that cripples many creatives in the art industry. He also navigated a terrifying scare of abandoning art when he hurt his eye, installing a skylight, and having a large piece of splintered wood hit his eye. By miracle, he recovered without surgery.
Consequently, Leslie would define success as being able to translate his ideas into symbolic drawings and paintings occasionally, even creating a sculpture or piece of furniture that brings joy to others.
