Free-spirited artist turns to minimalism
Evelyn Leavens' works in 'Art for the Arts' at Laurel Tracey Gallery
BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

LAYLI WHYTE Fifty-five years have elapsed since Evelyn Leavens' first exhibit and the current show of her minimalist paintings at Laurel Tracey Gallery in Red Bank.

Evelyn Leavens' first show was in 1952, and her most recent exhibition is currently at the Laurel Tracey Gallery in Red Bank.

She is as excited about the current exhibition of her large, colorful canvases as she was about her first show of smaller works almost 55 years ago.

The story of the artist's life in between the two exhibitions is equally large and colorful. In fact, the stories of her life before her first show, when she was just a child, are also saturated with unusual details.

For the past 45 years, Leavens has been teaching art, first to adults and then to children. In fact, she now teaches the children of her adult students and, in some cases, their children. Her connection to Red Bank and her students stretches as far back as she can remember, because she was born in the borough and still lives in the house her parents built in 1928 when she was 4 years old.

"Red Trees"

She explained that her first watercolor teacher was Yvonne Aubert, founder of the Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury. She also studied with Don Vorhees, a prominent local artist, and later on, a well-known oil painter named Raymond Mintz became her mentor.

"Mintz showed me the proper way to work," she said. "He helped me with my first show at the Old Mill Gallery in Tinton Falls."

Leavens lives in a charming, small Tudor house on the river side of Red Bank near the border with Fair Haven. Almost every room is crammed with her artwork, on the walls, in bins, on tabletops. Her watercolors grace every room, including the bathrooms, attic and basement.

But the largest and most colorful paintings are the contemporary oil paintings that she has been creating for the past year. These are the works that will be featured in the special event supporting the Two River Theater Company called "Art for the Arts" at the Laurel Tracey Gallery at 10 White St. in Red Bank.

"Glimpse"

Leavens said she is very excited about being included in this show because ever since the gallery opened, she has wanted to exhibit there. Her latest works are in a flat, minimalist style and reflect her love of farmland. She calls her style "peaceful."

They are peaceful because they reflect the simplicity of a less-frenetic lifestyle in an understated way.

Her past work - most in watercolor, some in oil and acrylic - was always colorful and sometimes sophisticatedly whimsical. Leavens said she has always been the kind of artist who jumps from one style or medium to another, from humorous to serious. "I am always looking for something new in my work," she said.

But what is most constant about her work is that it always reflects a master draftsmanship.

Leavens doesn't remember a time when she wasn't drawing.

"When I was just 4 years old, I drew in the details that most children don't see, like hands with fingers," she recalled.

"White Barn"

When she was just 8 years old, her parents moved to Europe to wait out the Depression and took Evelyn with them, hoping to enroll her in a good school in France. But, Leavens said, she didn't want any part of that plan, so they took her traveling with them.

"I was an only child and very self-centered," she said.

Leavens said she was attending Rumson Country Day School at the time, and her first teacher made her a little book with blank pages that she took with her to Europe.

When she returned to Red Bank, she had many drawings. She still has them. "My parents saved them," she said, adding, "I drew all over Europe, on everything, walls, menus, my father's books."

A precocious child with the quirky sense of humor that characterizes her today, she found that barking brought her a lot of attention and shocked the adults.

"I barked my way through Europe," she said.

Apparently she was good at it, just as she was good at drawing. She remembers living in a town in the Lake Como region in Italy for a few months.

"It was so beautiful, my parents decided to stay for a while."

She explained that the people who owned the hotel where they stayed were intrigued by her barking and invited their whole extended family to meet the "little American girl who barks."

Word of this barking child spread throughout the town, so when the family left, most of the townspeople came to the dock to see them off.

"There were all of these people saying goodbye to the barking girl," she said. "Some of them threw their hats in the air. I loved it. I was a ham."

Her interest in the sounds that dogs make may have led to her interest in dogs, or vice versa, and later in her life she became notable because of a book she wrote titled "Boswell's Life of Boswell."

A charming picture book, it was written and illustrated with original drawings of her basset hound. Published in 1958, for a while it was No. 2 on the New York Times bestseller list

Leavens has pulled off a feat that has eluded many artists. She figured out how to earn a living doing what she loves.

"I did a lot of commercial work for businesses and I did commissioned work of dogs, horses, houses," she said. Now she earns a living teaching and selling her original art works.

Leavens lost touch with Mintz in the 1960s, but in recent years she has attempted to find him.

"Just last week, while I was in the Laurel Tracey Gallery picking up more invitations, I met a man from Ireland who lives in the next county from Mintz and knows him. He gave me Mintz's address. I knew where Mintz lived because I saw a painting of his called "Kerry Landscape" on the Internet."

She wants to tell him that she has continued to paint all of these years, and thanks to him, she knows how to do it well.

Although an accident while driving a truck for Fort Monmouth during World War II caused a severe neck injury, resulting in a permanent downward cast to her upper torso, it didn't deter Leavens. And teaching has kept her young, as has her habitual sense of fun.

"I am never bored, never tired, and have never had a headache," she said.

An opening reception for "Art for the Arts," which will also feature works by Jon Peters, Scott Redden and Lucy Kalian, will be held at Laurel Tracey Gallery Jan. 13 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Two River Theater Company. To see a sample of Leavens' work, visit www.laureltraceygallery.com.