Rising and shining
Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, A Feast of Sunflowers, oil, 12 x 12.
This story was featured in the July 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EVERY MORNING at 4 a.m., while most residents of the San Francisco Valley are still fast asleep, Northern California artist Laurie Johnson Lepkowska jump-starts her day at the easel, where she paints for several hours before heading to work as the vice president of training for a group of car dealerships. During these wee hours of the morning, all is quiet and still. “It’s a great time of the day to create,” says Lepkowska. “When I go into work, I already feel a sense of accomplishment.”
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, The Morning Whispers Your Name, oil, 20 x 16.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, Backyard Roses, oil, 12 x 12.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, Blast From the Past, oil, 20 x 16.
The representational artist toggles between figurative and floral painting, both of which demonstrate her flair for juicy color and energetic brushwork. Despite each genre’s unique aspects, both pique her interest in the same way. “I’ve always had this fascination with people’s faces, their eyes, and their expressions, but I’m also drawn to flowers,” explains Lepkowska. “They’re like people, with a personality and joy.” Peonies, hydrangeas, and tulips are some of her favorite blooms, but sunflowers and gerbera daisies also catch her eye. “I love when you can see the centers, because they are like faces,” she says.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, Love Affair With Sunflowers, oil, 12 x 12.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, The Gaze, oil, 12 x 12.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, Peony Love Affair, oil, 12 x 12.
While florals offer the artist the opportunity to arrange a variety of shapes, colors, and patterns together, portraiture challenges her to capture the nuances of human emotion. “As I’ve grown as an artist, I’ve gone from the technical stuff to how to convey feeling,” says Lepkowska. Recently she has been exploring Sktchy, an app that offers portrait artists a variety of publicly contributed selfies to use as references for their paintings. In her painterly versions of these selfies, Lepkowska likes to change things up a bit. She might add flowers, alter the model’s clothing, or even change his or her hair color. “So now I’m creating a story and taking [the work] to the next level creatively, where I’m seeing something that isn’t there,” she says.
Lepkowska, who has been painting since the age of 12, studied at the Scottsdale Artists’ School and with such artists as Daniel Gerhartz, Robert Lemler, and Peggi Kroll Roberts. Today she herself teaches private lessons, workshops, and oil-painting classes on the weekends at an art center in Redwood City, CA. For this early riser, teaching is an opportunity to pay it forward and to grow. “The best way to get better is to teach what you’ve learned,” she says. —Kim Agricola
representation
Society of West-Coast Artists Fine Art Center, San Bruno, CA; www.lauriejohnsonart.com.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, The Beard, oil, 10 x 8.
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- Laurie Johnson Lepkowska, Sunflower Fascination, oil, 12 x 12.
This story was featured in the July 2019 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art July 2019 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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