For Lesser, life’s art is more than painting

Published 3:00 pm Saturday, December 14, 2002

Artist Joseph Lesser is an extrovert who makes introverted paintings.

The unpopulated landscapes and still lifes, on display at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts through Jan. 5, were created by an artist who loves nothing better than facing a classroom full of students.

“I’m very uniquely equipped to teach art classes,” Lesser said, “and I adore doing it.

“I think I would be unhappy if I were just a painter. I have this balance.”

Lesser, who earned a master’s degree in behavioral science from the Leadership Institute of Seattle, a program affiliated with Bastyr University, began his career in the 1980s as neither artist nor psychologist, but as a computer programmer.

His outgoing nature soon saw him tapped to teach the subject. In his off-hours, Lesser began to study art as a hobbyist.

He soon became a serious student, and taught others what he himself was learning.

“I always have a feeling in me, when I enjoy doing something, that I can communicate it, too.” Lesser said. “So once I started painting and really enjoying it, also I thought this would be fun to share.”

Although he was teaching, Lesser didn’t consider turning pro and selling work until he started to win art competitions.

“The paintings were stacking up in the basement,” Lesser said. “Then I started getting $500 checks just for sending in a slide.”

Within a few years, Lesser had won prizes in national and regional competitions, including honorable mention in American Artist Magazine’s “Emerging Artist Competition” in 1998.

Inner focus

Although he has started to be recognized, Lesser says he is careful to keep inner pleasure in the activity his primary goal.

Painting in oils on a small scale – his works on board or canvas range in size from 6-by-8 inches to roughly 16-by-40 inches – Lesser focuses on still life and landscapes.

The strongest painting in the current exhibit, “Curcubita,” features both, with gourds arrayed against heroically rendered clouds.

Lesser composes the larger landscapes from memory and sketches, but works from life when he can.

The dozen works displayed at BAC might represent a year’s worth for another artist, but Lesser makes several paintings a week.

“My artist heroes tend to be prolific,” he said. “Boudin did two or three paintings a week, 52 weeks a year, decade after decade. He left 4,000 oil paintings.”

Like Eugene Boudin, an Impressionist who mentored Monet, Lesser finds joy in teaching other painters.

He founded Atellier J, a teaching studio in downtown Seattle where, he says, islanders are among his students.

Bainbridge painter Ellen Boughn, who has studied with Lesser for several years, said, “He’s a wonderful teacher. He’s not judgmental, yet at the same time he encourages you to find your own excellence.”

Lesser says he avoids rigid lesson plans, responding to each student in an organic way.

“It’s a ‘happening’ every day,” he said. “I feel the pleasure of being of service to them. It speaks to the balance of extrovert and introvert.”

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Joseph Lesser shows paintings through Jan. 5 at BAC. For more information, call 842-3132 or visit www.bainbridgeartscrafts.org.