Drawing great inspiration from their own surroundings, artists Leslie Bures and Jill Peckelun bring forth a luminous exhibition of lavish colors for the last month of the year. Hosted by Lebanon Picture Frame and Fine Art Gallery, this show of gorgeous hues in bold and complicated layers will be on view for the rest of 2018 and the entire month of January 2019. Join us for the Artists’ Reception on Friday, December 7th, from 5 to 8PM for a generous and vibrant exposition of their shared vision.
Mixed-media artist Leslie Bures was born in Atlanta, GA, and has been living in the Mt. Gretna area for the past sixteen years. Perched upon a hill, surrounded by the trees and gardens of her own creation, Bures has created a “sacred space” at her beautiful Victorian home where she finds inspiration. Her latest group of bold, colorful mixed-media paintings embodies the visual abstraction influenced by her dedicated practice of Heart Rhythm Meditation. Even as a child, Bures kept a sketchbook of drawings of nature and geometric shapes, and she remains a highly visual and creative person. She received an associate’s degree from the Art Institute of Atlanta, but has considered herself an amateur artist until very recently when she decided to shift her focus to more professional work. The artist employs a layering process, including a variety of acrylics, watercolor, color ink pens, tissue paper, and metallic foil. Bures remarks, “The meditation has taken me to a much deeper place where I have connected with a sacred space within,” and “my latest art pieces and poetry have been inspired through this practice.”
Observational painter Jill Peckelun grew up on a farm in Lebanon County and considers the experience to be the single most important factor of who she is today. Currently residing in Hershey, PA, Peckelun sketches daily and finds inspiration in everything she sees. As a self-proclaimed introvert, Peckelun has found no need to travel to be inspired for her art, because to her, “beauty and emotion are everywhere.” When the artist is not sketching the trees and fields in their natural splendor, even the waiting room is full of “free models.” Her skill was honed over the span of eight years, with weekly lessons from technical artist John N. Booth. Peckelun has participated in many juried shows and exhibitions, such as American Women’s Artists, American Impressionists Association, and many more. Oil and acrylic in a variety of colors are mediums which Peckelun enjoys, though she considers herself an evolving artist and does not like to be constrained to any particular style. Peckelun recounts how her work has evolved over the course of her career, where she has grown to be more meditative when it comes to the composition of her paintings. “I spend significant time in the studio composing a piece based from on-site sketches, before I even start to paint it. All in all, what used to take an afternoon for a little painting, now takes me a month or more,” said Peckelun. “I think this more thoughtful approach is just as intuitive as my former alla prima/gut response way of working; it’s just a different way of using my imagination.”