Meet Leslie Nan Moon.
Her distinctive linocut block prints and mixed media works have an arresting impact. When you meet and get to know Leslie Nan Moon, you know you`ve just encountered an inspiring force of nature; to paraphrase an apropos advertising slogan, “your whites will be whiter, your brights will be brighter” once you meet her.
She hails from Philadelphia, PA where she grew up surrounded by her mother’s sculpture and her father’s photography. After receiving a BFA degree in Printmaking and Book Arts, she headed west to the Pacific Northwest. She developed a narrative style of work with a strong storytelling element. She works in linocut block prints, mixed media, encaustics, and the incorporation of both found and fabricated elements. Her works are both 2D and three dimensional, as well as in book form. Leslie explains: “My work tends to be narrative in subject matter. Alice in Wonderland, the Wizard of Oz and Dia de los Muertos are some of my favorite subject matters. I tend to work in series. In addition to these series I continue to work on my custom linocut pet portraits and other miscellaneous relief prints. Additionally, I have been working on mixed media pieces incorporating my linocuts with drawings and encaustic paintings”. Leslie`s work is exhibited and published extensively. Her prints and books are in private
collections both in the US and internationally.
Her energy knows no bounds. She has taught art for many years and is currently the Artist in Residence at North Bend Elementary school. Active at artEAST, Pratt, and Kirkland Arts Center, she is committed to strengthening arts in the community. She is the illustrator of a new children`s book, Agatha Hattie, authored by her friend Jackie Fedyk. Leslie knows her way around the communication opportunities of social media with a wonderful blog, a recently successful Kickstarter campaign, and leveraging Facebook in support of arts nonprofits.
Leslie and her husband, Scott, have busy twins. They are active in their daughter`s motocross interests and in living with their son`s autism and supporting the larger autistic community. Here is her inspiring perspective: “As a parent of a child with Autism, Alice in Wonderland has deep hold on me, which is why I have been working on this series for a couple years now. It is said that Lewis Carroll himself was on the Autism Spectrum, possibly explaining the wonderful nonsense content of the story. Watching my son navigate through the world is a little like watching Alice. Sometimes he fits, sometimes he doesn’t. Sometimes he understands what others are saying and other times it makes no sense at all. Either way, I will be by his side, walking through Wonderland together”.
Leslie is a not-to-be-missed artist at the 6th Annual Sammamish Arts Fair on
October 13th and 14th. Fair details can be found at http://sammamishartsfair.wordpress.com/ and Leslie’s work is showcased on her website at www.lesliemoon.wordpress.com
