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

Hi Gayle, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
Making art is hard work; it’s challenging physically as well as mentally. People get the idea that art is a relaxing hobby. When you’re dedicated to doing it right, art requires decades of practice and learning. The actual work requires strength and stamina – from hiking into a wilderness painting site with a backpack full of heavy supplies, to stretching and priming a large canvas, to standing in front of an easel with your hands and arms working for hours, to framing and transporting the art to an exhibition venue.

Sometimes I will get students who have in mind that they can sit at a table and copy a photograph while chatting with their friends. They quickly find out that’s not what my classes are about!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My artistic journey started in the West, looped through New England and ended up in Middle Tennessee. I’ve brought with me influences from the Rocky Mountains to Cape Cod and in between. Painting is taught differently in New England than it is in the West. You could say my art is a synthesis of Boston School painting and Western Plein Air.

This was not an easy journey. In my youth, I had nothing to fall back on when a painting was rejected or unsold. Over the years, I’ve had enough successes that the failures don’t bother me as much. Income is always an issue: balancing my artistic freedom with the desires of the buyers. During the years when those two factors have lined up, I’ve thrived. But artistic styles go in and out of fashion just like other things; and my painting has also evolved.

The work as an artist has taken discipline in every facet of my life. I don’t spend my resources on anything that may distract me from my work – restaurants, alcohol, drugs, expensive clothing or housing, etc. I work out at the gym in order to stay strong.

My advice to young artists: stay well away from any addictions – and anything can become an addiction if you let it.
Don’t get discouraged by the rejections; think of your efforts to promote your art as nothing more than a chore that needs to be done on a regular basis.

My art has continued to grow and develop throughout my life. I intend to paint and teach for as long as I have breath.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Of course we would explore Second Avenue; listen for some music we like and then go in and have a drink.

The rest of my list is a little geeky: We would spend a day at the Libraries: Nashville public library and Tennessee State Library and Archives. The Tennessee State Library and Archives gives an awesome tour, and you get to see the robot in the stacks.
Next day we would go to Cheekwood and check out not only the gardens, but the art exhibits; they have food there, too.
While we’re on a cultural jag we’d go to Centennial Park and see the statue of Athena inside the Parthenon; then eat lunch at Red’s 615 Kitchen.

Now we get into the natural places I like to go for my inspiration: we’d bike along the Stones River Greenway and the Greenway system in Nashville, all the way to J. Percy Priest Lake. We could find some fried catfish along the way.
The Shelby Bottoms Greenway is along the way; good views of waterfowl and meadows.
The Warner Parks are good destinations for forests and meadows, and even some good views of the city. We would bring a picnic for that one.

Of course I would have to take my friend to the gallery that shows my work: Richland Gallery in Green Hills. Also to On-Track Studio where I teach. Another super art destination is Lieper’s Fork, where you can find antiques, too.

The best dinner of all would be slow-cooked barbecue at my studio, prepared by my husband Scott Ahlbrandt.
We would hang out and drink wine on the deck adjoining the studio and watch the sun go down. Pure bliss!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to Bradley Hickman, Hunter Mobley, Stacy Beam & Amanda Beam of Richland Gallery in Green Hills for their energy and enthusiasm in continuing the gallery’s rich history of promoting fine art in Nashville!

They do a wonderful job of representing my art in the gallery as well as on social media. They have sold several of my paintings recently and it’s always nice when those checks come in!

Richland features abstract painting, art photography and non-objective work along with the representational painting my colleagues and I create. You can see it all by appointment at Grace’s Plaza, 2nd Floor
4009 Hillsboro Pike, Nashville, TN 37215

Website: www.gaylelevee.com

Instagram: gaylelevee

Facebook: Gayle Levée Fine Art

Youtube: Gayle Levée Fine Art

Image Credits
“Show Students” photo supplied by Rita Maggart “Combat Boots” photo supplied by Julie Lewis Haynes

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