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Living in the beautiful Sierra foothills community of Nevada City for over 40 years has its benefits as an artist. Regularly traveling the west coast and experiencing the diverse landscapes of California are also added fuel to LeeAnn Brook’s heart as a painter.
“The closer I can tune in to my surroundings, the closer I get to intuitively painting shapes and colors that evoke what I feel and see”.
In an upcoming show called “Drawing from the Heart” at Piper J Gallery in Truckee, Brook will be showing over twelve new abstract landscape paintings that are filled with evocative colors that are Brook’s hallmark. The opening reception is Saturday, August 10, from 4-7 p.m., with an Art Talk at 4 p.m. The show runs through September 3.
“Color has always had a deep influence on my work. I always mix my own palette, and it can shift directly on the canvas, as the many layers of paint influence the final outcome. This way of painting is very intuitive—I know when it’s right, or when the painting still needs development. To keep exploring directly on the canvas puts me in touch with responding to the feeling I want to project. This is how the title ‘Drawing from the Heart’ came about, as I am pulling from what I know instinctively,” comments Brook.
Brook’s intuitive style of painting didn’t happen overnight. It came from over 20 years as a professional fine artist, as well as over 40 years as a graphic designer.
“My work in graphic design married perfectly with my fine art, as both were strongly influenced by color and design. After 40 years, painting became like second nature to me. All of the color theory in the world cannot replace years of simply painting on a regular basis. My draw to color has always kept me fascinated, wondering where it will lead me next in a painting. My curiosity around abstract painting pushed me further with color, interpreting what I saw in a landscape,” LeeAnn reflects.
Working on canvases 50″ and up, her large landscape-based abstracts are filled with movement, mood and light. In her painting “Draw Near”, a 48″ x 58″ mixed media piece, abstract elements play against the realism of trees and water, creating a mood of stillness and mystery.
Brook graduated from Paier College of Art in Connecticut in 1973, with a double major in graphic design and fine art. She is a five-time award winner in the California State Fair and a four-time winner in the nationally recognized Wild & Scenic Film Festival’s juried art competition, including Best Of 2D in 2018, and was accepted into the Crocker-Kingsley exhibition in 2023. She is in the permanent collection at Kaiser Permanente in Sacramento, CA, and U. C. Davis Medical Center and Sutter Health in Roseville, CA. She also was awarded the Dr. Leland and Sally Lewis Visual Artist award from the Nevada City Chamber of Commerce in 2015.
LeeAnn will speak about her newest work at 4:00pm on August 10 at Piper J Gallery, with an art talk that will be informative and personal. The gallery is located at 10250 Donner Pass Rd. in downtown Truckee. http://www.piperjgallery.com.