NOTES FROM THE STUDIO

may studio notes Leslie Parke may studio notes Leslie Parke

April Notes - 2025

When I visited Japan, I was filled with questions about how the ideas about Japanese art penetrated the French market. In other words, how did Japanese art arrive on the shores of France. With that question in mind I headed south to Kyushu and on to Sasebo, where my friends lived, and with their help I was able to explore where the Dutch traded with Japan from the small, artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay.

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may studio notes Leslie Parke may studio notes Leslie Parke

March Notes - 2025

This winter I reworked some older paintings, in some cases creating completely new works. You can see those HERE. Another direction has emerged in the work. Mostly in a square format I have been making paintings with an all-over composition. There is motion in the paintings, sometimes reflective light, many details, but also a general gestalt. You get one painting when you look at it close up, a different one from a distance, and yet another when you move in front of it. The experience of the painting can’t be replicated in a photograph. You need to see it in person.

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