Oil Paintings: Lost in Time, Found in Time

When I go home and begin my walks around town, the first thing I feel is a sense of sadness for things lost. All around me are the signs of the changes left by time. Many houses and other structures are utterly gone, but have left traces that summon up memories; other old places remain, but in a much transformed and decaying state. Much has been lost; but much can still be found by looking and reflecting in the present time.

These paintings reference houses that I have stumbled on -- many abandoned and in varying stages of deterioration, others still inhabited and carefully tended, but showing their age graciously. In most cases, I have no personal connection with the houses I paint; they are selected simply because they pull me in and make me look long and carefully.

With oil paint, I establish an image of a house, then lose it under layers of paint, then find and lose it again and again -- until it resolves into an image that captures my response to that particular house. My intention is to arrive at an image that reveals what the house means for me -- the feelings it evokes, the memories it taps, the stories it calls to mind, the suggestions and sensations that emanate from it.

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LESLIE BLACKMON

LESLIE BLACKMON