1.Please tell us a little about yourself starting with your name, marital status, family members, and pets?

My name is Janice M. Leotti. I’m an artist who enjoys working in watercolor and acrylic paint, polymer clay and words. As far back as I can remember, I’ve drawn, painted, and wrote stories. I used to make books, even pop-up books, out of cardboard, fabric and sheets of loose leaf. I’m married to my best friend and soul mate, Paul Bachem, who used to be an illustrator of such books as The Hardy Boys Mysteries and The Pony Pals, but who now paints landscapes. We both love animals and have owned everything: chameleons, dogs, cats, fish, mice, birds... Just now we have two cats and two newts. We also care for some stray cats in our neighborhood.

2.Where do you live now? Have you lived or visited other places that have influenced your art?

I live on Long Island, New York. I love visiting upstate and the New England area. These places are infused with Faerie beings and wildlife, and have influenced my art. The light in Italy and the folklore of England have also inspired aspects of my art.

3.How long have you been interested in painting? In sculpting?

I started painting when I was very young. I started sculpting about five years ago, just for fun.

"Autumn's Secret"

4.Who in your family was the most encouraging? Do you ever use family members as models?

My father was a very talented musician and artist. He died before I was out of grade school. However, my mother always read to me, and filled my head with all kinds of stories and fairy tales—even the gruesome ones. When I was very young I remember her pointing out the shimmer of a dew drop on a leaf or the blazing color of a flower. She sees beauty in everything, and I think my love of nature, art, and reading comes from her.

Regarding models: Since my husband and I are both artists, I think everyone in our families has, at one time or another, posed for a reference photo!

5.Do you use other people as models? If not how do you get the faces for your art?

I use mostly friends and family members, or I make them up. I recently photographed a new model who has been the subject of quite a few recent paintings. I will change her hair color, eye color or make her lips fuller or thinner or her face wider or thinner, depending on what I need.

"Butterfly Valintine"

6.Did you take professional art classes, go to college, etc for becoming an artist/sculptor?

I studied with three local area artists: Harold R. Stevenson, Alma Gallanos Stevenson and NASA artist, Attila Hejja, all of whom are now deceased. I also took a workshop with portrait painter, Daniel E. Greene, and a couple of courses with illustrator, Jos. A. Smith. Nothing formal, though. I feel I’m still learning—have a lot to learn. I taught myself to sculpt, but the Stevensons focused many of their classes on learning anatomy. This helped a great deal when I began working in 3-D. My husband is a terrific teacher as well, and I learn from him on a daily basis.

7.Do you have a favorite painting or series of paintings? Do you have a least favorite?

That’s a tough question. I love my painting “Autumn’s Secret,” also “Snowbringer,” “Dark Visions,” “Banished,” “Butterfly Valentine,” “Messenger,” I don’t know! I like a lot of them. My least favorite no one has ever seen!

8.What eco friendly thing do you do for our environment? Do you think it is important to GO GREEN?

Yes, it’s absolutely important to Go Green. My step-dad used to tell us to turn off the lights when we left a room. I used to think he was a pain. Now I turn off every light in the house except for the room I’m in. I also don’t run my air conditioner, even on hot days, except at night. I recycle. I use eco-friendly laundry detergent and cleaners, and I pick up trash if I see it lying in the street. I also write to my local and governmental officials to support eco-friendly legislation.

9.Do you like to paint animals in your paintings? What do they bring to the painting that is significant?

Even though I’ve been painting my whole life, I feel I’m still an inexperienced artist. I haven’t painted that many “formal” paintings. My use of animals has been limited. I have painted owls, ravens, mice, frogs, wolves—and I think that’s it! I hope to paint more in the future. I like to refer to animal symbolism, and I usually include the animals to signify wisdom, courage, mystery, etc. For example, in my painting “Messenger,” the dragon is whispering something into the Faerie’s ear, but the owl in the background is the real messenger. Traditionally, owls symbolize wisdom, and, in many folk traditions, are the bearer of messages and omens.

"Dark Visions"

10.What past experiences or jobs have you done that have influenced your present career in art?

I sort of stumbled into Faerie, and knowing the Faeries, this is probably not unusual. I’ve worked traditional art jobs: I was an artist agent’s assistant for a while and an assistant editor for different publishers, but nothing that would have fed my desire to learn more about folklore and Faerie lore. On my seventeenth birthday, my mother gave me “Faeries” by Brian Froud and Alan Lee, and that sparked my current path, but it wasn’t until much later that I decided I wanted to paint Fantasy exclusively. I think my current “career” is still evolving. I don’t really know where it will end up!

11.What is your favorite medium in your paintings? your sculptures?

I use watercolor and acrylic for my paintings—I love water based paints. I use my own special blend of polymer clays for my sculptures.

12.Are there other artist’s that have influenced you? Why?

Oh my stars, yes! I have a long list of artists who have inspired me for various reasons throughout the years, but I’ll give you just a few: John Waterhouse, Brian Froud, Alan Lee, NC Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, the Symbolists, Degas, Frida Kahlo, Arthur Rackham, Maurice Sendak, my husband, John Jude Palencar, Maxfield Parrish, Jasmine Beckett-Griffith, Jessica Galbreth, Rebecca Sinz, your art, Cindy Thorrington Haggerty, Nene Thomas, Maxine Gadd, Brom, David Delamare, Meredith Dillman, Linda Biggs, Amy Brown, and many others. Each has inspired me in their own way, and every painting is a learning experience.

"Faun Faerie"

13.Do cultural obsessions influence you such as the “Vampires / Werewolfs” in your art? Is this rare or common for you?

I’m not generally taken in by trends, for example, I have no desire to paint zombies. However, the vampire myth grabbed me. I began reading up on vampire lore, and was amazed to discover that almost every culture tells some kind of vampire myth. I read the novella “Carmilla” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu for the first time last year, and was entranced. The sexuality and power of the vampire is compelling, but also the loneliness and desire for human life is tragic. Anne Rice described this so well in her Lestat novels. I hope to do more vampire paintings in the future, whether they are in or out of style.

"Messenger"

14.Your Faery Healers are absolutely inspiring. What made decide to make them?

This is going to sound horribly frugal, but here goes. For a while I was selling Pagan merchandise at Renn Faires—this was just before I decided to do art full time. I loved doing the Renn Faires, but decided I wanted to sell more of my own art, and I didn’t have time to do both. Anyway, when I closed my little business, I had all these gemstones left over. In the meantime I had started to sculpt. One day, I said, “There must be something I can do with these stones…” and the Faery Healers were born. I still have my little prototype hanging next to my computer.

15.What makes your Faery Healers so special? Has anyone of your customer’s told you how they have influenced them? Will you share one story with us?

Over the years I’ve gotten letters from people who think I’m some kind of healer. I’m not sure that’s true, but I get intuitions about which stones will be good for different people. Sometimes customers ask me to choose a stone for them, and I give them something I think will work best, but I do not claim to be an expert in the healing arts. I get many letters from customers expressing how much joy my Faery Healers bring them, and this, I think, is the best cure for any ailment.

16.What are some accomplishments you are most proud of?

Personally or professionally? In my personal life, I’m grateful for my husband—can you be proud of a marriage? He’s a terrific partner and friend. Professionally, I’m most proud of the fact that, even though people told me not to go into the arts because it is an unstable business, I did it anyway, and have stuck it out, even through tough times. My sculptures have been published in Contemporary Doll Collector, American Miniaturist, and Dollhouse Miniatures, and that has been great. I’m very proud of my licensing deal with Heaven and Earth Designs, terrific people and a terrific product. In 2008 I was invited to show my art in a gallery called Zahra’s Studio in Beacon, NY, (the owner has recently moved), and that was a thrill. I’m also so honored to be interviewed by you!

17. What is in the horizon for your art that you would consider sharing?

Hmmm. Not sure. I want to be a better painter, and strive every day to make better pictures. I’d like to one day have enough merchandise to attend FaerieCon or some of the other cons. That would be loads of fun!

18.If you could change or relive a part of your life, what lesson would like to have learned more from?

Great question. I’m not a person who believes in regrets. I believe each experience in life has something to teach you. If you didn’t learn it in the past, it will come back to haunt you in your present. This is a gift. You can always learn your life lessons in the here and now. I feel I’m learning some things now that I didn’t learn when I was younger. This is not regrettable. I think I’m more open to what the universe is trying to tell me now. And so, I start from today. I won’t remember this life if I come back as a ladybug in the next, so I’d better get to living now!

19.Is there a dream you would like to fulfill, what is it?

I really like your questions. Well, let’s see. I love words. I’m in the midst of writing a novel, and maybe one of my dreams would be to see it published. I’ve published two short stories in the past, and a few years ago I did nothing but write. It sounds odd, but I think the arts are interconnected, and sometimes cross over and influence each other.

20.Please share with us your favorite phrase?

I like a lot of quotes, but if there is one that sums up how I feel about life it would have to be this one:

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” Chief Seattle

The English countryside and/or Alaska. I have an obsession with snow.

""Snow Bringer"

Thank you so much for participating in our Peaceful Art Jewelry/Design LLC Interviews… We are so proud to have you as our August 2010 Feature Artist of the Month. We wish you the best in your life and career… Cindy and Mystic (Dana) of Peaceful Art Jewelry/Design LLC