Ask the Artist Series No. 01: Lee Pohlsander
Ask the Artist is a Q&A blog series where Sarah Jackson interviews artists about the work they do, their creative process, and the joys and struggles they face as an artist and a person. Each blog post focuses on a single artist in the Phoenixville art community.
Photo by Lauren Ariel
Lee Pohlsander
Website: leepohlsander.com
Instagram: @leep_artdesign
Lee Pohlsander has never wanted to do anything but create art. When she was eight years old, she sold her very first painting to her grandfather, and she’s made her living as an artist ever since. She’s a mixed media artist who uses composition and color to direct the eye and engage the viewer in her abstract, expressionist pieces. In the past, she’s worked as an advertising art director, a digital designer, and an illustrator. Nowadays, Lee uses acrylic paint, print making, and oil pastels to connect with her audience and invite conversation and connection.
Check out the Q&A below to learn about the advice Lee would give her past self, her experience during the Chester County Studio Tour, and the show she’s most proud of.
Sarah: How has your artistic process changed over time?
Lee: My art is a lot less representational now. It used to be all representational, and it isn’t at all anymore. There are still elements of representation, but it’s much more abstract. My color palette has always primarily been in the blues and yellows, though I’ve got some pink going on right now, too! During COVID, the grays came out really strongly, because a lot of that work was about isolation, and I think anybody who was alive then can relate to that. All the design work I did gave me a really strong compositional training, and now those elements play off of each other, so a formal magazine composition can play into a painting really easily.
S: What’s one challenge you face as an artist?
L: I struggle with the continued need for business sense, and I’m very uncomfortable with self-promotion. If you show me somebody else’s work, I will promote the heck out of it! But self-promotion is much more difficult, and I think most artists are like that. I’ve talked to artists who have trouble letting a piece go, but except for one or two pieces, I don’t have that trouble. I’m just glad I’ve communicated so strongly that somebody else can feel something and want to invite it into their home. But telling people that they should love my work is very difficult.
S: What advice would you give your past artist self?
L: Have more self-confidence. This is a really vulnerable profession, and that’s okay. You can be vulnerable and still be self-confident.
S: What’s a rewarding part of being an artist?
L: I love the act of creation, but what really thrills me is when the piece I’ve created communicates so clearly to somebody that they either take it home or wish they could take it home. I had a woman come to the Chester County Studio Tour last spring, and she sat and looked at my work for about 15 minutes and said, “I don’t have any money, I’m so sorry.” And then the next day she came back and looked for another 15 minutes. And I was as thrilled by that as anything else, because she had to go out of her way to come and look at this piece. It’s really amazing that I could speak to her clearly enough that she wanted to see it again. It’s great to sell a piece, but it’s that connection with another human being that’s really amazing.
S: What piece or collection are you most proud of?
L: Probably the ladder series, which spoke really, really clearly about isolation and helped me make that break between representational and abstract in a really beautifully strong line. It was based on Samuel Beckett’s play, Endgame, and I had a solo show of it with a reading of the play. At that time, I actually ran into Vincent Tavani, the town poet, at Steel City, and we were talking about symbolism. I told him about my paintings and the symbolism of the ladder and Samuel Beckett’s play, and he said, “Oh, that’s my father’s favorite play!” So, his father, Craig Tavani, directed a staged reading of this play in the gallery while my paintings were there, and it was so amazing to experience the connection through Samuel Beckett with some other person who felt so moved by my connection that he had to reflect back on his own connections.
S: How do you protect your energy as an artist?
L: Finding the balance between human interaction and alone time and working time is really the key. Physically, I go to the gym, and I get outside a lot, which is also really good for my emotional energy. I love things like meetups and show openings and those kinds of things. I’m a little more isolated than I would like to be at the moment, but in the summer I’ll be able to get out more, and then in the winter I’ll have to hibernate again if COVID’s still going around. But mostly it’s just a matter of balancing interaction and quality alone time.
S: How was your experience as part of the Chester County Studio Tour last month?
L: When I first moved to Phoenixville, I heard about the Chester County Studio Tour and visited all the studios in Phoenixville and a few in West Chester. After a career in graphic design, it was wonderful and inspirational to see so many artists working and exhibiting and sharing their studios. Since then, I’ve participated in the Studio Tour as a guest artist in both Chester County and Montgomery County. This year, for the first time, I was able to open my own studio for the tour, and have five other artists in my building participating. I had a blast! I love sharing my work with people who love art and other artists, and it was really energizing to get to do that for two days. It was special to get to share my studio with everyone, in addition to the finished paintings. One of the best things was getting to introduce one of my long-term collectors to other artists in my building, I knew she’d love their art and make purchases—and she did! I can’t wait for the First Friday Open Studios our building had lined up, and for the Phoenixville Art Walk in October!
You can find Lee’s work at the “Beyond the Armor” show at the Jeweled Warrior or online here through June 9th!
Check out Lee’s Instagram or website: leepohlsander.com
You can find Lee in her studio every First Friday at The Upstairs Studio Artists, 209 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, May-October, 5:30-8:30 p.m. She will also be participating in these events:
Phoenixville Art Walk, Sunday, October 6
Holiday Sale, Saturday, November 30, and Sunday, December 1
This interview was conducted by Phoenixville-based writer and editor Sarah Jackson. Visit Sarah’s website to learn more about her work and how to get connected.
