​LeFlore headlines in Galveston Art League Gallery during June

Award-winning painter Leroy LeFlore is Featured Artist for June at the Galveston
Art League Gallery, 2117A Postoffice St. Hours for the gallery, located in
downtown Galveston, are noon to 6 p.m. Fridays-Sundays.
LeFlore will display 10 to 12 works in the league’s gallery during the nonprofit
organization’s June show. Other members of the Art League also will exhibit in the
gallery and online; all artworks are offered for sale. Online shoppers can check out
the pieces at www.GalvestonArtLeague.com (click on “June show”).
LeFlore works at his easel up to six hours daily, depicting iconic details of
Galveston Island such as waves, beaches, clouds, birds, palms and boats. The
island’s diverse elements – wetlands and beaches, harbor and ship channel, wildlife
and subtropical skies – provide compelling subject matter, he says. LeFlore paints
inside his studio as well as plein air (outdoors). “Attending demos, training
sessions, learning from other artists, competition are all necessary for
improvement, but time at the easel is what matters the most,” he maintains.
His preferred medium is oil. “It is the most flexible and forgiving medium.
Watercolors are more difficult, restrictive and unforgiving. For those reasons I
continually challenge myself to do watercolors. If I can master that medium, I’d be
a better artist.
“Acrylics with their fast drying has never appealed to me. I like wet-on-wet oil
painting for all the effects I can get,” LeFlore says. “To try to master a new
medium, to go through that learning curve producing mediocre results, is not
something I’m willing to take on at this stage of my life. I want to get better at
want I’m doing now.”
The painter sits on the all-volunteer Galveston Art League’s board as director of
member shows. Other memberships include Oil Painters of America, Outdoor
Painters Society, Southwest Plein Air Artists, American Society of Marine Artists
and National Society of Artists.
LeFlore ramped up his brushwork after working as a marine engineer for 32 years.
His interest in maritime history and nautical subjects infuses much of his art. “I
attended Texas A&M at Galveston from ’71-’75 and upon graduating, remained in
Galveston. All but the last four years of my career were spent on ships. The last
four years were spent primarily in Malaysia and Nigeria on offshore production
platforms.”

LeFlore says the process of painting encourages him to study the world around him
and is rewarding for him. “When I step out into my world, I’m impressed by it. It
is extraordinary. I want to arrest people’s attention and make them aware of the
wonderful world they live in. Our lives become mundane and ordinary, but the
world never is. Be aware of that.
“Benefits to painting are remarkable. I can’t think of any other activity that can so
focus the mind in absolute concentration for a few hours at a time. If we sit in front
of a movie for a couple of hours, we ‘zone out.’ When we stand in front of an easel
for a couple of hours, we are problem-solving, stimulated, strategizing, gratifying,
agonizing and, so important in these times, shutting out the noise and chaos.”
LeFlore urges artists to show their work and enter contests to see how it stacks up
and receive critiques. “As an artist, validation is essential. Without putting your
work out there, it’s easier to be become complacent and think you’re doing all
right. Put your work up against others’, and it becomes apparent that it’s perhaps
not so good. Validation comes from awards and sales.”
The Galveston Art League’s member and juried, new every month, give artists an
easy, affordable way to share their pieces because of the league’s low-cost
memberships and inexpensive fees for exhibiting, competing and selling. The 107-
year-old Art League, which has never had any salaried employees, is welcoming
members right now. To find out more about memberships for artists and non-
artists, please go to www.GalvestonArtLeague.com and click on “Join” on the
homepage. Or email the league at gallery2117@gmail.com.