Girlfriend

Girlfriend
Oil on canvas
41cm x 55.5cm

Autumn People

Autumn People
Oil on canvas
53cm x 127cm

Untitled

Muddy Water

Muddy Water
Oil on canvas
40cm x 60cm

Formerly "Pines" Cf. Thursday, June 23, 2011

Ripeness All

Ripeness All, two plums
Acrylic on foam board
I am planning to burn this one

Domestic Scene

Domestic Scene, Niagara, Ont.
Oil on canvas
59.5cm 79.5cm

New Work

Christian & Ignorance (The Pilgrim's Progress)
Oil on canvas
20cm x 25cm
Unfinished

There's a great essay in Words in Edgeways that talks about the difference between Christian and Ignorance to Bunyan.

Man Waving At The SkyDome From The Precipice Of The Niagara Escarpment

Man Waving At The SkyDome From The Precipice Of The Niagara Escarpment
Oil on canvas
51cm x 117cm

Full title
The Fox, The Hedgehog, And A Man Waving At The SkyDome From The Precipice Of The Niagara Escarpment To Express Derrida's Use Of Velazquez

or
Deforestation In The Arts: Context Is Everything But That Doesn't Make It Sublime

Heroism, Work in Progress

Heroism, a killing, up north, a secondhand account
Oil on canvas
80cm x 100cm

dedicated to Chagall

At one point it said "Valorous" at the bottom, now
I am thinking of adding the word, "Don't"
As in, "I don't have the courage of your convictions."
As in when Mr. Verloc said, "Don't."
(in The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad)

As it turns out, I have an adverse opinion on speech balloons in the plastic arts
And even the little Jesus fish that snuggled in the water, lower-centre for many days
Received the harshest criticism. As with many things about my painting
Only I saw it and it will be seen no more.

Question
"What do you think about your use of colour?

Laughter

Answer
"It comes out of a tube...
"I wish I could afford the more expensive colours...
"There is a certain detachment or ambivalence that I have towards colour once it's
"part of a picture...
"some pictures are harmful and it is important to be vigilant.
"I am thinking of the line, 'See? It's okay. He saw it on the television.'
"In other words, if understanding the incomprehensible is the issue then colour is at issue,
"not the issue...
"Nobody wonders about the light from their TV unless it effects the picture,
"or it starts speaking like a Casper David Friedrich."

Laughter subsides

Peanut Gallery
"You like The Shining?"

Answer
"Yeah, that's Jack Nicolson's line there, you're right.
"He's talking about cannabalism.
"This, however, is a picture of a caribou being shot twice in the neck."

Question
"How do you paint your skies?"

Answer
"I use two colours...
"--once I used three but most of the time it's two.
"White and blue work well...
"When I think about painting a sky--I mean think,
"Then I usually try to get all the things you get in a sky--
"its winds, temperatures, UV exposure, light, molecules, I guess,
"mostly pollution depending whether you're happy where you happen to be...
"There are skies that I'd like to paint.
"I'd like to paint a picture of the Northern Lights (but
"I haven't had the good fortune, yet). I'd like to paint,
"The Theft of the Stars over T. O.
"or The Other Side of the Wind...
"If I could only see it, eh?"

Rustling

"In this painting... my fingers, too."

Weak Laughter

Question
"What's [Quarry] about?"

Answer
"An apocalyptic vision, I guess...
"It's intention is to be childish
"about Jesus' promise to make ye
" 'fishers of men'.
"I did it when a friend suggested that I do a painting about fishers of men
"And so I used a painting called Quarry
"or 'Abandoned Quarry',
"which I did very quickly after returning from an exhibit on loan from the
"Museum of Modern Art at The Art Gallery of Ontario,
"and I painted the now finished painting, still, obstensably, a picture of a quarry,
""in Wainfleet
", overtop."

Question
"How long does it take you to paint a painting?"

Guffaws

Answer
"Well, in an interview with Russel Cousins he noted that I used the term
" 'EpiZodes'. At the time I think it was quite a few of them to a painting.
"The interview is published at www.razmataz.ca, under interviews.
"Sometimes its one and then two, as in, Quarry.

Murmurs

"Not that I have decided definitively to stop painting "Quarry"
"But I'll continue to work on the second episode,
"for the foreseeable future, with different paintbrushes,
"different paint...
"I read once that an art lover took a painting from Cezanne
"because Cezanne often over-painted his paintings, and
"it's not a coincidence that
"one of the easiest paintings that I've done is a bather, a tribute to Cezanne,
"called, The Restoration of Beauty."

Peanut Gallery
"Why was it easy?"

Answer
"It was easy to paint."

Question
"What are the critics like?"

Answer
"Very friendly. Someone once took down from my wall The Restoration of Beauty because he
"felt a curse was on him...
"But other than that I've kept the losses to my self-esteem to a minimum...
"I found my tribute to Cezanne the next day behind my toilet...
"I took it as a rather personal form of art criticism...
"Whatever criticism is
"Criticism adds something in the work. Even an easy painting can have more than
"two episodes, if we count the anecdotes--
"and I think we can--
"and do."

A chair squeaks

"If I can return to the use of colour?
"I'll elaborate."
"I don't think a critic is going to say that I consider the colour-blind.
"I do, although I don't know what effect that has on the end result...
"The colour-blind are fascinating if you are a painter, right?"

Peanut Gallery
"Will your paintings clash with my furniture?"

Answer
"I hope not. They don't stand a chance."

Question
"Who has influenced your work"

Answer
"Norman McLaren.
"Animation fascinates me.
"And 'F for Fake'
"Orson Welles' film about the great art forger, Elmir."

Question
"It looks like you were on LSD when you painted Agricola, were you?"

Answer
"I've never done LSD.
"They used to ask painters if they'd eaten anything..."

Question
"What else are you working on, other than Heroism?"

Answer
"I am working on 'The View from a Bank'
"Its title now is Fox, Hedgehog, and Man Waving at The SkyDome from the precipice of the "Niagara Escarpment...
"Perhaps without the Isaiah Berlin reference..."

Question
"Is one of your paintings worth a billion of another?"

Answer
"That's a good question.
"Nietzsche said, 'gather zeroes'...
" 'If one wants followers, gather zeroes.' Nine zeroes is okay, I guess,
"compared to some...
"But I don't think that way...
"--Not a bit."

Peanut Gallery Applauds

Question
"Do you believe it when someone tells you they need to speak to their husband
"About a purchase?"

Answer
"Yes. I think some of the best art criticism is done by married couples."

Question
"What do you have to say, by way of trivia?"

Answer
"The stumps in 'The View from a Bank' were originally backpacks on Brock students."

Another Look

One Dozen Roses
Oil on canvas
66cm x 51cm, unframed

Cf. 2010/December/Work in Progress

HandMadeMarket/ Fall

photo by Erin (A Knot Above)

Sold:

Niagara Gorge
$290

In the collection of my friend, Judy Levine

Bird Bangers

Bird Bangers, by my house, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil on canvas
31cm x 61cm

"I've seen some beautiful pictures of the birds. In some very good paintings they form great syphons that suggest musical spheres. Here I am only interested in the technology. I wonder whether these swarming birds shitting blue guano all over will mutate into deafness and plague both carowners and the vineyards. Let's hope they don't mutate like fruit-flies... I suppose this painting is my comment on evolution."

SEPTEMBER 16th and 17th

Next show

SEPTEMBER 16th and 17th

"AN upscale ARTISANAL EXPERIENCE"

HandMadeMarket

NIAGARA WINE FESTIVAL CELEBRATION

13th Street Winery, St. Catharines, ON

13th Street Winery, 1776 4th Avenue, St. Catharines in the valley between 7th and 9th streets (www.13thstreetwinery.com)

The View from a Bank

The View from a Bank, Summer, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil on canvas
51cm x 117cm

That glacier/ the SkyDome
And all glaciers/ Still

Quarry

Quarry, Summer
Oil on canvas
80cm x 100cm

Russ said, "do one about fishers of men," and played the guitar and sang while I did a version of Christ's infamous words with paint, his suggestions, and "Abandoned Quarry" for a canvas.

"Follow me and I will make ye fishers of men"
--Jesus of Nazareth circa 1592

Untitled

Two trees saw that you were leaving
If you save them be believing
Two trees gone I'd have my trump
Two trees left and yet one stump

2009

Art by the Lighthouse

photo by Marlene Lepp

Sold:

"Plums"
$69
In the collection of Susan Hall

"Logged"
$200 + "Approach", Pottery (Japanese Raku technique circa 6th century) by "Susie"
In the collection of Susan Winthrop

I love to see my paintings' resting places
--Apple Nodham, Chair of Bowlies (Honourary)
Kronck University

"Brock's Monument"
$150
In the collection of Donald Combe

Brock's Monument

Brock's Monument, seen from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil on canvas
40cm x 59.5cm

The Canal

The Canal, the Welland Canal below the St. Catharines Skyway, Niagara region, Ontario
Oil on canvas
40cm x 59.5cm

"I liked the idea of a land-locked Poseidon--sword in hand...

Peach Orchard

Peach Orchard, south bank of Lake Ontario, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil and oil-pastel on canvas
50.5cm x 15cm

"Tag!"

"Tag!"
Oil on canvas
16 inches x 20 inches

A. K. A. "Hope and Recovery," a contest submission, Hamilton, Ontario

The game of Tag starts when we are children and we play by the rules because the rules are just what we really do. It is hard to quit the game of Tag by yourself.
-- from The Back of the Canvas -- J. A. Lepp

Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Oil on wood panel
52cm x 122cm

Pines

Pines, Niagara Region, Ontario
Oil on canvas
40cm x 60cm

Plums

Plums
Oil on wood panel
19cm x 23cm

Peaches

Peaches
Oil on wood panel
19cm x 22cm

Nectarines

Nectarines
Oil on wood panel
19cm x 23.5 cm

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario
Oil on wood panel
54cm x 125cm

Niagara Gorge

Niagara Gorge, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Oil on wood panel
54cm x 125cm

I painted this first coat the evening I returned from the Ontario Art Gallery's 20th Century Abstract Exhibition, on Loan from the Museum of Modern Art.

Abandoned Quarry

An old quarry in Wainfleet, Ontario, where it's fun to go swimming
Oil on canvas
80cm x 100cm

Blowing Field

Blowing Field, near Lake Erie, Niagara Region, Ontario
Oil on canvas
40cm x 60cm

The Soul

The Soul, wine-grapes, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil on canvas
60cm x 40cm

A prediction... the 2011 vintage

Work in Progress

Work in Progress

The Woman in the White Dress

The Woman in a White Dress
Oil on canvas
60cm x 95cm

(A quote from Citizen Kane)

Acknowledgements

I would like to give thanks to my Aunt Pudge, not only for being the first to acquire one of my paintings but for buying three -- Late Harvest, Poem, and Poem 2, for $690; to David Drum for his painting and his support, both in terms of frames he has sold me and given to me and one of his easels that I have and use; to Susan Winthrop, who taught a class at the Pumphouse Art Gallery, and to Kasia Zygmunt who encouraged me to attend, and to my sister Marnie and the Saskins, for it as a gift.

Many Thanks

Starryless Night

Starryless Night
Oil on canvas
95cm x 60cm

a.k.a. The Bayles of Hay?

Work in Progress

New Work

Narcissus, in my front garden, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Oil on canvas
40cm x 50cm

I should thank my brother Aron for pointing out the difference between a daffodil and a narcissus.

The OPIRG Show

See

"It Takes a Life (or, my brother is an artist)"
www.girlnumbertwenty.blogspot.com
Saturday, April 30, 2011

Where this picture is (among others)...

photo by Marnie Saskin

As well as some very good writing...

And just a reminder that my paintings are available at:

The OPIRG InfoShop
10 Summer St., Downtown St. Catharines, Ontario

Open Monday to Friday 12 to 6pm

this month of May

L & R GREGORY AND NO-SONS

"Larry's Footprints" Ruth and Larry's backyard, Mt. Forest, Ontario

Footfalls

Singly steps want nothing more
There's footfalls on the whole
But when I drop them on the floor
I seem to take direction


R. I. P.
Uncle Larry

Biography

J. A. Lepp was born son, brother, and farm labourer in 1977. He is a middle child. An early artist, his first job came in grade 7 when he was asked to illustrate a local author's childrens' stories.

Jesse Arnold was raised by Mennonite parents and publicly educated. He has got a B.A in English language and literature from Brock University and a B.Ed. from the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Lepp was hired by the District of School Board of Niagara in 2004. He was part of the Graduate program in Education at Brock University in 2009.

Lepp's written work has been published by Duke Maskel and Ian Robinson at www.edgewaysbooks.com. He began painting in earnest in 2009.

J. A. Lepp lives in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada.

"Agricola"

"Agricola"
Oil on canvas (movie: photos taken at different times in my living room)
1m x 1.55m

dedicated to "the little farm that wanted to be a forest..."

Bookmark

“IT TAKES A LIFE”

Show

Decorative Works

Oil and Acrylic

For Sale

A Portion of the proceeds to go to

OPIRG BROCK

RECEPTION

At the OPIRG BROCK InfoShop (downtown St. Catharines)

7:00pm to 9:00pm

April 29th, 2011

--and hanging for the month of May

OPIRG Brock InfoShop, 10 Summer Street,
downtown St. Catharines, Ontario

Google the map and directions

IT TAKES A LIFE

Paintings by J. A. Lepp

A collection of decorative works that might have been called The Living Room. Like children they have been a part of my living room for long enough. Time for them to find other people's living rooms to inhabit. I mean that rooms live. That rooms have life all their own. Which sounds cliche to me. But I think that paintings are a large part of that. So, it takes a life to see a painting. This is how I would rather start. It takes a life. Especially looking at paintings that change with the light and the seasons—even the epochs. Paintings that grow up. Paintings that don't. So, I agree with the statement, “Paintings educate sight.” Some do and some don't. Furthermore, sight is discursive. A painting can make you say more that you can. Or more than you think you can. Several paintings can be like a sound argument. Perhaps a symphony. So, certainly, painting is a large part of my life that is in a way like the way painting is a part of any of our lives. I would like to think that each of my paintings is more of what there is to say. That is, if there is room.

Me and John, Fishing

DETAIL FROM
"Me and John, Fishing", dam, near Biscotasing, on The Spanish River System, Ontario



Me and John, Fishing, a dam near Biscotasing, on The Spanish River System, Ontario
Oil on canvas
70cm by 90cm

Another Look

"The Dreamers"
I put the last strokes on this painting the night I returned from Biscotasing

Cf. 2010/ December/ Movies & 2010/ September/ New Work

Current Work

"A Romance" Northern Ontario (from a photograph by John Fegedelem)
Oil on canvas
30cm x 62cm

Another Look

"God's Love," a hailstorm, Stewart Road Farm, Niagara-on-the-Lake

Cf. 2010/August/New Work

Current Work

"Struggle" A gully in Northern Ontario (from a photograph taken by John Fegedelem)
Oil on canvas
40cm x 60cm

I painted this in the evening.