Leslie Wiegand Love

Tangible Stories

Leslie (Wiegand) Love’s, “Tangible Stories” is a solo exhibition in tribute to her Dad, who passed away in 2020.

She foraged materials on their property: work jeans destined for the dump, copper wire from his shop to make teal paint, wood paneling, hydraulic manuals, used silk screens as canvas, metal siding salvaged from a collapsed camper, and more.

Layered with images of her family, the work is conceptually rich with a beauty and depth that inherently radiates unconditional love and invites viewers to connect with those aspects of themselves.

Artist Statement

Artist Biography

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3.
Young Love
29” x 35”
Copper oxide handmade from dad’s copper wire, hydraulic manuals, acrylic paint on wood panel.
$750
My mom fell for Dad before she was old enough to date him. He said she was too young, as she was 4 years younger than him, and they were teenagers. They went their separate ways, but inevitably they got back together, and then married when my mom was 19, in 1967.
When Dad passed, we had a conversation. Lying in bed, crying, I thought to him “I just wish I could talk to you.”
Of course, I could hear his voice in my head “But, you ARE talking to me.”
I continued, “but like, I wish you could answer.”
Immediately I knew, and his reply was “Leslie, I AM talking to you.”
So began the dialogue which brought about this painting and eventually the rest of this exhibit.
I walked into one of our storage sheds, still full of Dad’s saved things for projects he had accumulated over the past 40+ years. Out loud, I asked “Where should I start, what should I use in here, Dad?” I looked in the direction of his many hydraulic manuals and started to dig them out. They were greasy, some moldy, and not really useful anymore with the invention of the internet. I started by ripping up pages and making paper, then sorted out the yellow pages which I used to make the petals in their sunflower crowns, adorning them like they were the prince and princess of their time.
The wall colour was matched by copper ink I made from salvaged wire from my dad’s shop. As the vinegar evaporates, I am left with a thick teal paste I used to paint.

5.
Under Your Wings
37.25” x 45.25”
Acrylic on silkscreen.
$1250
Painted from one of our family slides, the Mars Bomber was a spectacle we visited on Sproat Lake for many summers. My Aunt and Uncle owned Maples Resort on the lake, and we would stay a few days each year in their cabins.
Sometimes we would boat out to these massive planes. They are like celebrities, real superheroes of our past. My family knew the Coulson’s who owned these flying ships, and we were particularly close with Barry Coulson, pictured in my painting “Highlights”.
It’s hard to imagine how intimidating they are until you’re beneath them. They are terrifying, actually. But I imagine my strong Dad there beside me, like he was throughout my life, if not in person, at least in my mind. Under his wing, I can feel safe in the face of things that are much larger than me.

7.
Highlights
37.25” x 45.25”
Acrylic on silkscreen.
$1250
Oh Barry Coulson, Uncle Bar, Uncle to so many people. This man knew how to wield an elaborate story, write a song, and play the drums and baseball. He was a huge part of me and my brother’s childhood.
I painted him here with his ducks, Madhat and Mudhen. At the time of this picture, he was living on his tour bus in our driveway with his girlfriend. I think he was staying to get sober which he did accomplish, though I am not sure if this was when. As a child, I didn’t see this side of the story. Uncle Bar was simply a hilarious and gregarious character who loved art, music and people with a passion. And really, that IS who he is. Kids just lead with their hearts.
I love this picture, and my memory wants to claim I was the photographer. It is possible that I snuck on the bus with the ducks to wake him, and maybe my dad was with us.
I wanted to honour him and my dad with this painting, as they were quite close, and Barry passed away only about a year before my dad. The title speaks of the sun hitting Barry’s face from the window, and the times in life that are the best, the highlights.

9.
Blue Collar Altar
12.75” x 8.25” x 8”
Dad’s welding mask, LED lights, gold leafing, salvaged mirror from crushed camper, collaged multimedia.
$625
My Dad’s welding mask. Never look at the sparks of light when Dad is welding. They will make you go blind, like looking at the sun. Of course, I would steal the odd look, how could you not!? It’s like a magic wand when you’re a kid!
I asked if I could watch the sparks fly with the mask on, at least once. I probably begged until he caved, as I am sure he was just trying to get the work done. This was the mask I remember. It was cracked and abandoned for a new one, but this is the one I imagine, when I see Dad at work.
I imagine him doing this work, 25 years at Alberni Engineering, for his family. He was proud of his job, but I hear him hating it too. When he talks about music, he lights up, giddy like a child. This is a mask he wore to make ends meet. To make money, to pay the mortgage. Sometimes he would make art too though, masks and butterflies and trees out of brass and scraps of metal. The mask is an alter to him and his work. I imagine I am inside his head, looking at his life, his family, the people and things he cared about. I see myself in there. I see you too, as now you have stepped into our world and become a part of our lives by partaking in this exhibition. Thank you for coming. Thanks for seeing me, for “I am the art” (thanks, Lisa Joan for the quote).

11.
The Other Side (Dad’s Eye)
30.5” x 36.5”
Acrylic on salvaged plywood.
$750
As my dad was having a stroke, we sat and had our last in person conversation, as I was seeing him through to the other side. In me, he has left memories and parts of himself. Wherever he is now, energetically or physically in ashes on my bookshelf, or on another plane, we are connected still. My actions and being, very much include parts of him, even though he is not precisely here.
We watched the Steller’s Jays eating the seeds from the sunflowers as he was trying to regain his breath. Me on one side of the sunburst, him on the other.
There were no colour close-up photos of Dad’s eyes. I could only zoom in close to one with very little detail. That is something I can’t imagine in detail now, what his eyes look like. But I do believe I have captured his essence. Here we are watching you take in the exhibit, becoming a part of it. You are a part of the community just by being here. I appreciate you, so thank you for coming.
The ovals were cut for windows in a condo being put up across the street from us in Victoria. We were renting a suite in a house, where I had our first child, Franki. I thought they were interesting, so while we were moving back to Qualicum Beach, I picked these out of a pile of scrap to take with us.
Henning spray painted the yellow and purple layers on them. I decided I liked the colours as the base of the paintings, as the yellow alludes to the sunflower theme throughout the work.

13.
Coat Room Dreams
36.5” x 35”
Acrylic on wood panel.
**SOLD** $400
Henning was the singer in my dad’s first band, the Saints. As a kid, he and his wife Mary would babysit me and my brother from time to time, and I have fond memories of their skittish cats and toys, their kindness and patience with us. I think they were unable to or chose not to have kids. Henning struggled for a short time with addiction when he was younger, but was able to overcome and help others, through his social work in Vancouver.
I observed the closeness my family felt with them. Henning had some health issues and after a car accident was unable to recover. I remember he called my dad to tell him he loved him, before he passed away.
We named our second child after Henning, and my dad, *Henning Kenneth Love.* I started painting this shortly after he was born but didn’t finish it until a few years ago.
Henning senior was also a painter, and he often depicted tigers in his dream-like scenes, with random happenings in different areas of the composition. So, here is the tiger, to represent his dreaming in the coat room at a party, to illustrate his struggles, and his paintings, his innocence and beauty as he rests, captured in the youth of this photographic image.

10.
I Will See You There: Point A (left)
37.25” x 45.25”
Acrylic on silkscreen.
$1250
This is my dad driving. Something I used to see a lot of growing up. I could have taken this slide, except I didn’t because Dad has a beard which means I was too young. He shaved every hair off his face, including his eyebrows when I was about 5, and let me tell you… that is an unforgettable memory! He was getting ready for a Halloween dress-up party and going as Fester Addams. He came out with no hair, white make-up on, and black circles painted around his eyes. I ran screaming bloody murder into my bedroom. Traumatic? Maybe, but the memory is hilarious now.
It's his tow truck he is driving. I got the idea to paint it twice, in reflection, because the screens had mirroring vintage car stencils left on them, probably from Uncle Don making decorations for a Teen Town Reunion which took place in Port Alberni about 20 years ago. That’s another story though. Here, there is a vintage car, with a vintage slide of my dad, driving through life, finding himself through the different roads he took along the way.
While painting these I was simultaneously taking a couple of graphic design classes. I was thinking about repetition, colour blocks, the feelings colours invoke, and about being thoughtful and intentional about what you choose to include and not include in design. I am glad this was the starting point for me using the old silkscreens. I learned along with them, and they influenced the paintings that followed.

15.
I Will See You There: Point B (right)
37.25” x 45.25”
Acrylic on silkscreen.
$1250

17.
Sowing Seeds, Digging for Dreams
52.5” x 45.5”
Salvaged shovel heads, steel grate, copper ring, nuts and bolts.
$1750
Probably 10 years ago, we were cleaning out the garden shed when we first unearthed the dozen or so shovel heads my dad was saving. I remember laughing so hard and taking a picture, just thinking it was so adorable and ridiculous that he was keeping these rusty old things for seemingly no reason. What on Earth was he saving them for?
Obviously, for me to build a sculpture in his honour. He must have known. Good thing we just moved them into the metal scrap, detached truck bed for a decade, instead of throwing them out.
I also salvaged the metal grate, nuts, and bolts to put it together. I had the help of my brother and husband to drill the holes in the shovels. I love to include my family wherever I can.
The little seeds inside grew from another project, but I like that they encapsulate encouraging words, same as my dad supported my art growing up. I wanted to share that encouragement and connect this piece to our community.
Seeds are on handmade paper, made from scraps people wrote their dreams on. Carbon ink was handmade from scraps of paper in which people wrote their ‘discards’ on, the things that were holding them back from achieving their dreams.
I burned the discards and made the ink from the ashes to write encouraging words on the slips of paper, rolled into seeds.

Leslie Love
Power of Connection
13.25” x 13.25”
Handmade inks from dad’s salvaged copper, weld, walnut husk, rusted metal and more, applied on upcycled linen and thrifted stretcher bar.
SOLD $200
The linen fabric came with an etching press, for blotting and using in printmaking. Adam thought it would make a great drop sheet, and I was a little disappointed to find it crumpled up with red house paint splattered on it.
I had found an old stretcher bar somewhere and decided to use the linen to make some paintings.
When I first started this piece, I thought I would grow moss on it. When the first experiments were unsuccessful, I didn’t give up. I wanted it to take on a life of its own. I painted it and left it outside in our forest for about a year. Some of the colour had faded. I took it into my studio and freshened it up. I added more handmade copper ink, made from wire of my dad’s. I added tansy flower ink and more walnut husk ink, crafted from nuts that had fallen from my neighbour’s tree.
The entire process is about connection, connecting the dots, developed from walking the land, my relationship to the people in my life and the environment I belong in. This painting is about the power of our connections to each other and the inherent power of nature.
Whenever I walk the land we live on, I see Dad in everything. The man-made structures, materials, and the trails and brush he cut, the walls he put up, the trees and lawns he tended. There’s a connection that was never lost, even after he passed away.
This painting was left outside for a year on our land to connect with the elements. I retrieved it and painted into it once again, to complete the work in 2022.

1.
Stop Overthinking – Let’s Start & See
23.5” x 23.5”
Double Sided Salvaged spray paints on foraged sign. Side One.
$425
Foraged from a spidery nook beside the shop, this sign demands your attention. I have no idea where these city signs came from over the years, and that’s probably a good thing.
I think, a lot. Sometimes, I think so much it hurts. I tend to overthink things, and then not take any action. I outthink the thought until I am discouraged and do nothing. It’s like I am procrastinating. I am protecting myself from failure. Let’s stop that. I know I am not alone in this. I thought I could yell on the other side “START!”, but that’s too harsh. Instead, I invite you to start, and see what happens. Just take a small step towards your dreams and see what’s next.
You can flip this over when you’re obsessively thinking, and don’t know what to do.

Stop Overthinking – Let’s Start & See
23.5” x 23.5”
Double Sided Salvaged spray paints on foraged sign. Side Two.
$425

2.
Working Through It
30” x 30”
Salvaged spray paints and enamel on foraged sign.
$675
I was looking for something borrowed and something blue to use as a backdrop for an idea. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for but in my foraging, I found these bent and rusty signs in the trees at the edge of our 5 acres. Behind an old camper, beneath brambles and nootka rose bushes, I dragged these heavy things out with just a few thorny injuries.
Why these, Dad?
Well, I can see beauty in anything. Art is everywhere, but especially in the eye of the beholder. As an echo to the shovels in “Sowing Seeds, Digging for Dreams,” I am asking you to stop and observe that your community wants you to succeed and achieve your goals, pivot towards your dreams. It’s a sign, take these seeds of encouragement and begin.

14.
Pivot
30” x 30”
Salvaged spray paints on foraged sign.
$675

4.
On your throne
22.25” x 19”
Acrylic and rusted tin on salvaged plywood.
$325
I wonder if this is when Dad first set up this drum kit. From my point of view, this is the only kit my dad has ever owned. Its wood veneer is warm and worn, always here, steady and holding the bands together in the studio here on Song Farm. I found a piece of tin in our scraps that Dad had jaggedly cut, and already had a hole in it to attach, as a symbol of symbol in this painting. We used my brother’s “Nibbler” to cut out the oval shape and I painted it to blend in.
In the original image, my dad is conveniently surrounded by plywood walls. The salvaged piece of wood I used had a bit of black spray paint on it from a past project, probably my dad spraying speaker boxes and stands.
Sitting on his throne at his kit was definitely my dad’s happiest of places.

6.
Take me home
24” x 24”
Acrylic on wood panel, copper oxide, and a pinch of grease.
$425
My mom must have been the photographer in this one. My Dad, home from work in his dirty jeans, sat on the floor in front of me for some play time.
This is the living room of my childhood. The yellow and brown rugs, large speaker boxes my dad made, records upon records lined up and ready to play. The box at the top is being unpacked. We had just moved from Port Alberni to our house and land, that we are on to this day.
We lived in Victoria until Franki was about 8 months old, then we moved back to be close to my parents, to have their help and raise our kids in the country. Franki was nearly the same age as I was when we moved here. I am so grateful to have had these years to become close to my parents as an adult, and to watch them become amazing Grandparents to our kids.

Brand And Wiegand

22.5” x 28.5”

Acrylic on silkscreen.

$475

Dad and his friend Gordie Brand owned a music store called B & W Fidelity in the late 1960s, in Port Alberni. The Beatles put out the White Album not long after they opened the store.

I remember Dad telling the story about the first time he heard the White Album, and how it was like nothing he had ever heard before. Apparently, the radio station played the entire thing, and he listened to it all in his music shop.

I love to consider this moment for my dad, before us kids, in his element, surrounded by the sounds of his generation, the excitement of hearing new music and having your whole future ahead of you.

The old silkscreens I have salvaged to paint on are the medium of sign making, so I like how painting a sign on their surface speaks to that.

Hidden in the sign is a stencil of another band who, until recently, still practiced in my dad’s studio, “The Shants”. It is a treasure only seen from the back.

Leslie Wiegand Love

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