About

Lesley Anne Spowart was born and raised in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, receiving her B.A. in Art History in 1979. During her time there, she assisted in installing the work of Richard Fleishner, Sol Lewitt and Larry Bell.

Relocating to Davis, Ca., shortly thereafter, she began her graduate studies in Art History at UCDavis, continuing graduate work at UCRiverside and Cal State Fullerton, where she went on to install works by Beatrice Wood, Viola Frey and John Buck. Her education in Art History, Exhibition Design and Museum Studies has strongly motivated her to create and display her own work.

Lesley’s art is composed of diverse mediums and has been referred to as transformational. Primarily a multi-media artist, she employs the use of beeswax, tar, photographic xerography, acrylic paint, as well as other mixed media.

She is a colorist, so color choice is integral in her presentation. Her art expresses her vision through the utilization of these numerous media: “I have employed numerous processes and mediums…I enjoy mixing things up just to see what happens. Color choice is integral in my presentation; I happen to love color and enjoy experimenting and manipulating possibilities in my printmaking and assemblages.”

Lesley has shown her work in galleries on the Monterey Peninsula in solo and group shows. Among these are Gallery Mar, Carmel; American Art Gallery, Carmel; Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel. Her work is found in corporate and private collections both here and abroad. She resides in Monterey, California where she and her husband have raised 3 children.

About My Work

"My studio is located in a retired wine cellar, which has influenced my creative process. My work is marked by its physical, sometimes large format, and it has been called transformational by others. I love color, abstraction, impressionism, and expressionism. I work almost exclusively on paper or board since I welcome the resistance of the substrate to fight back as I work to communicate my message. I utilize sanding, scraping, mark making and scratching in my creative process. As a multi-media artist, I use photographic xerography, acrylic paint, and other mixed media to create work that genuinely reflects my life story and connects me to my audience." --Lesley Spowart

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • Creature Comforts - Pacific Grove, Art Center
  • The Color of Energy, Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel, CA, 2019
  • What I meant to say, Never on Sunday, Monterey, CA, 2007
  • Vessels, PK Fine Artifacts, Sand City, CA, 2006
  • Sleight of Hand, Satsoontsi Gallery, Salinas, CA, 2005
  • “(to have a happy childhood) it’s never too late”, Lisa Coscino Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA, 2005
  • Limitless Landscapes, Arthouse, Pacific Grove, CA, 2002
  • CHINA-A Printmakers Photographic Essay, Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA 2001
  • New Monoprints, The Grove Homescapes, Pacific Grove, CA, 1999

 


GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • Toward Abstraction, The Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA 2023
  • Plus One (+One) San Jose City College Arts, San Jose, CA 2023
  • Re-Emergence (MPAF Members) Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA 2022
  • Creative Women 3, Gallery Mar, Carmel, CA 2022
  • Art in the Time of Corona, New Museum, Los Gatos, CA 2021
  • Creative Women, Gallery Mar, Carmel, CA 2020
  • You Can’t Quarantine Creativity, Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel, CA 2020
  • 33rd September Competition, Alexandria Museum of Art, Alexandria, LA, 2020
  • Miniatures, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA, 2019
  • Transformation-Envisioning Change, Pajaro Valley Arts Council, Watsonville, CA, 2015
  • Healthy Monterey County, Arts Council for Monterey County, 2010
  • Le salon d’etudiant, Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery, Monterey, CA, 2008
  • Lauryn Taylor Fine Art, Carmel, CA, 2007
  • Upstream People Gallery, Omaha, NE, 2005
  • Fusion, Form, Function, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL, 2004
  • “Exposing injustice and Revealing Beauty”, Maryland Federation of Art, Baltimore, MD, 2004
  • 17th Annual Exhibit of Women’s Work, Northwest Area Arts Council, Crystal Lake, IL, 2004
  • Small packages: Food for Thought, Lisa Coscino Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA, 2004
  • December small Works, Limner Gallery, New York, NY 2003
  • Santa Cruz Art League’s Annual Statewide Exhibit, Santa Cruz, CA, 2003
  • The Art of Wellness, 15th Annual Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Salinas, CA 2003
  • Art-Connection/Connection-Art, 11 East Ashland Gallery, Phoenix, AZ 2003
  • Close to Home, Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA 2003
  • Spring Forward, Fall Back, Gallery Mia Tyson, Wilmington, NC, 2003
  • Substratum, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA, 2003
  • 17th Anniversary Open Invitational, 11 East Ashland Gallery, Phoenix, AZ, 2003
  • Mute, Cade Fine Arts Center Gallery, Arnold, MD, 2003
  • Spring Salon, Limner Gallery, New York, NY 2002
  • Bold Expressions, Northern California Arts, Inc., Sacramento, CA, 2002
  • “Feeding Ourselves, Feeding Others: Women and Food”, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA 2001
  • MetalMorphosis, Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery, Monterey, CA 1998


CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

  • Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP)
  • Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)
  • Cypress Coast Cardiac Surgeons (CCCS)
  • Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital (SVMH)
  • Stahl Motor Company


BIBLIOGRAPHY

  • Dennis Taylor, “Her instincts inform her artwork”, Carmel Pinecone, November 7, 2019
  • Michael Chatfield,”Ones to Watch”, Homestyle by the sea Magazine, winter 2007
  • Lisa Crawford Watson, Monterey County Herald Go!, “Vessel for Art”, March 23, 2006
  • Lisa Crawford Watson, “Sleight of Hand”, Monterey County Herald Go!, May, 2005
  • Tom Leyde, “She’s an artist of all trades”, Salinas Californian, May 2005
  • “Sasoontsi Gallery Exhibits L.A.Spowart”, Monterey Bay Wine and Travel, Spring 2005
  • Lisa Crawford Watson, Layers of Meaning, Monterey County Weekly, April, 2003
  • “Tiananmen Square”, Lesley Anne Spowart’s monoprint on paper”, The Baltimore Sun, March 2003
  • Rick Deragon, “Rooms with a View”, Monterey County Weekly, September 2002
  • Lisa Crawford Watson, “Limitless Landscapes”, Monterey County Herald Go! March 2002
  • Kathryn McKenzie Nichols, Monterey County Herald, “Artists work conveys impressions, emotions of visit to China” May 2001
  • “Printmaking Explored at the Carl Cherry Center”, The Carmel Pinecone, 1999

 


AWARDS/HONORS

  • 1st & 2nd Place Mixed Media, Monterey County Fair, Monterey, CA 2017
  • Voted Best Local Artist Monterey County, Monterey County Weekly 2010
  • 1st Place, November Art Competitive, Avery Gallery, Seaside, CA 2005
  • 1st Place, Seaside Art Competitive, Seaside, CA 2001
  • 1st Place, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA 2001
  • Honorable Mention, Seaside Art Competitive, Seaside, CA 2000
  • 2nd Place, Marjorie Evans Gallery, Carmel, CA 2000
  • Honorable Mention, Seaside Art Competitive, Seaside, CA 1999

EDUCATION

  • Art &Creativity for Healing Certification, Chapman University, Laguna Niguel, CA, 2010
  • Museum Studies/Exhibition Design, California State Fullerton, Fullerton, CA, 1982
  • Art History, U.C. Davis & U.C. Riverside, 1981
  • BA Art History, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1979