Meet Lesley Craig | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lesley Craig and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lesley, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I seemed to be constantly trying to figure out what it is I want to be “doing.” I’ve primarily supported myself with service industry jobs my entire adult life, the money is good (hopefully), the people are my people and it’s flexible. That flexibility allowed me to put more energy and focus into my art practice and over time I realized how much more I enjoyed it rather than anything else I was doing. I’ve never wanted an office job or honestly to work for anyone so starting my own business seemed like like the obvious next step. I figured if I had to work than I might as well be doing something I gave a shit about and am halfway decent at.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I don’t necessarily know what sets me apart, but I suppose my tendency towards bold color pallets and a penchant for using…genitalia could be it. It’s fun! I am most excited that I’m pushing myself to explore new mediums. I started do ceramics about a year and a half ago and I feel like I have really taken to it, specially hand-building. I feel Ike it allows me to me to more deeply connect with my. I am creating something tangible. In the next few months I’m going to be exploring taking the figures I paint into the 3D realm, combing soft sculptures and ceramics.

Honestly I still don’t feel like I am where I need to be “professionally.” That isn’t to say I am dissatisfied though, I feel like it’s driving me forward, encouraging me to do more. I finally have my own website after literal years of being a working artist so in a way I am my own biggest challenge ha, I move slow and I’m hyper critical of myself, but I’m learning! Getting my own studio space was a big move for me and made a huge difference in how productive I could be and that within itself was a big challenge because I’m sure, as we are all painfully aware, Denver is not exactly affordable anymore.

Lessons I’ve learned along the way have come in many forms. I’ve learned that I need to listen to myself and that it is possible to achieve burnout even when you are doing something you love. Being “productive” everyday isn’t necessarily productive. Ask for help from your community- I know a lot of people that know how to do a lot of cool things. Don’t take things personally. I have applied for numerous fellowships, grants, residencies etc over the years and most of them I didn’t get, but I try to not let it get me down and remember it is largely a numbers game and not because I suck. I try to leave my self-doubt at the door, but that is easier said than done. She always be lurkin.

My art style is ever evolving, but in a large majority of my paintings I use these somewhat ambiguous human forms of varying color and “gender” and that is for a very specific reason. I want everyone to be able to identify with something in my work. To feel included.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I ain’t trying to blow-up my spots now! Just kidding, the majority of my time out is spent at Skylark Lounge ,in a surprise to no one. I’m a typical broadway creature, I’m either there or Hi-Dive. A typical friend outing for me usually involves Angelo’s for HH, especially if it’s mollusk Monday ( I love a dirty gin martini and oysters), followed by the Mayan for a movie, but if you don’t get the seats right in front of the balcony, you can kiss your legroom goodbye.

My love of food runs as deeply as my love of art so If a friend from out of town is visiting, my first concern is, what are we eating? The list is long and runs the gambit between dives and “reservation” spots.. I would say Candlelight Tavern’s burger is heavy in my rotation as is Los carboncitos, specifically the 8th and Sheridan location. My favorite michelada in town. It’s brought me back to life on several questionable days. My favorite noodle spot closed earlier this year, RIP Lao Wang. Uncle is always reliable, but I have also been meaning to checkout Ramen Star. The list is seriously very long, I’ve got google doc, but I wont bore you by listing them all off.

The MCA is a go to for friends visiting from out of town as well as the botanical gardens, I love flowers and it serves as a great source of inspiration. Meandering around The Brass Armadillo is always a fun was to spend the afternoon too. I also enjoy just going on long walks through some of the older denver neighborhoods as well, especially over in Cherry Creek because all the fancy houses usually have equally fancy gardens.

I try not plan things out too much though, I kind of like to see where the day organically takes me versus planning everything out and sometimes that means I’m just bellied up the a dimly bar shooting the shit with friends for the better part of an afternoon.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Anyone who has ever bough art form me! Seriously though, where to start? I moved to denver 10 years ago and have been so fortunate to become a part of an amazing and incredibly supportive community. Everyone from my bosses at ratio, specifically Eric Matelski, who over the years let me take upwards of a month and half off the do artist residencies, workshops etc to local artist who have now become close personal friends. I’m part of of a club (group chat ha), called “Bad Art Club” that consist of my friends that are also working artist. You’ve got Doug Spencer an artist and framing wizard, Ava Goldberg of Animal handmade (🥵), Derik Penny an artist, woodworker and art installer extraordinaire and Hayley Helmericks of Bluebook and who is just a general badass. Their encouragement and support is a huge part of how I finally gained the courage to take the, somewhat, terrifying plunge and peruse my art full time. Plus we often do HH and they listen to me bitch. A lot. Last but not least my family, especially my incredibly supportive partner, Bob Ashby. He is part owner and manager of the Skylark Lounge on South Broadway. He believed in me enough to let me paint a bigass mural on the wall of the upstairs bar, which was honestly a huge confidence booster for me because I had never worked on anything that large. He is has not only been emotionally supportive through my many freak outs, but also lets me be late on rent…like really late. Love you Bob.

Website: https://Lmcraigart.com

Instagram: @whiskeysoup