LESLIE SINGER

Leslie Singer attended a special arts high school and continued painting in her early college years, but stopped when she was 21 and didn’t pick up a brush until nearly 20 years later. “I didn’t like assignments,” Singer said, “I need to paint what I want to paint.” She became an English major and pursued a career in publishing and public relations leaving art behind. But when the man who was to become her husband asked her what her favorite painting is (Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring), it launched an ongoing conversation about art that led her back to palette and brush.

Singer is a painter of portraiture, often anonymous -- meaning that the subject’s likeness is not important to her. The figure is a study of light and shadow upon which she builds, embellishes and then erases. In her many self-portraits, her face is sometimes turned away or obscured in some manner, often by her hair falling across her face. Thus her identity is intentionally obliterated. In this way, the viewer can complete the painting using his or her imagination.

Leslie Singer works from studios in New York and Santa Fe. Whenever she can, she paints from live models, but also relies on photographs. Her paintings have been sold through galleries, Saatchiart.com and Artfinder.com.