Thanks to the incredibly talented folks at Sandbox Designs, my new website www.stevenleahy.com is just about up and running! During the process of supplying images and copy, I have found myself reflecting on how my career has guided itself despite my best efforts to screw it up. I would have been the last one to tell you that I would be painting grains of rice and razor blades. These things might be parlor tricks to some but the miniature work has hit such a deep and resounding chord with me. I can't help the need to paint small and now understand that it has always been in there waiting to bust out.
The painting 'Air and Steel' was a piece that would not
allow me to ignore it. It really became a self portraits of sorts. Since the late 80's, the airbrush allowed me
to bridge the gap between where my art was and where I really felt it was
supposed to be. During the 90's, it was an unassuming razor blade painting that
changed the way that I look at all of my art. Creating a painting now that featured
the two was the natural next step.
'Air and Steel' began as a personal study and it was really
meant to only make sense to me. What blew me away was when it began to appeal to
others. Especially those outside of the airbrush community. I expected my peers
in the airbrush world that were used to my miniature obsession to understand yet I wasn't prepared
for the mainstream art world to take an extra look. This little painting ended
up getting juried into the Cambridge Art Association's RED show.
With that unexpected surprise, I polished my shoes and went
to the opening reception, not quite sure of how things were going to go. What I
found was that the things that I was passionate about in my work, translated
into that work. Others saw what was important to me. It was a solid painting
first, tiny second.
