“Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” - E. O. Wilson
About the Artist
Cheryl Lee LeBlonde is the artist behind Basement71art and her work takes inspiration from nature which is at odds with her start in life in the concrete jungle of Johannesburg, South Arica. She had six years under the African sun before the family to the North East of England. It was here that Cheryl discovered the benefits of a cooler, wetter climate. Lush rolling green meadows mixed with vibrant, joyful fields of yellow Rapeseed led her to somewhere she’d never been able to visit before; the ocean. When the family settled near towering, jagged cliffs leading down to the beach, a new world opened for her. She spent hours playing amongst the rock pools and exploring smugglers’ caves hidden in the cliffs.
As Cheryl matured, the coast, along with the forests and meadows she explored became a place of refuge and escape. When difficulties at home and life overwhelmed her, the roaring crash of the sea, the biting sting of the wind on her cheeks, and the contrasting textures of smooth, hard, wet, soft, and sharp became the distraction she needed to escape, to calm, to reset. She didn’t yet know it but these experiences were forming the artist Cheryl would later become.
Texture became so foundational to her that she spent several years experimenting with materials and techniques that would allow her to create those tactile experiences. She developed a plaster mix that has allowed her over the following 14 years to be able to use it to form almost anything her imagination can conjure.
That sense of peace and sanctuary she had found in nature for so many years would become the focus of her body of work, driven to encapsulate that natural essence and bring it into her artwork. The nature-inspired textures and colours work in harmony with the deep organic forms and allow the ever-changing play of natural light to be the final artist, allowing for a complete circle from inspiration to completion. To this day, whether in need of inspiration or sanctuary, Cheryl always turns to nature, whether that’s simply going for a walk or creating en plein air.
Cheryl studied graphics, 3D and fashion design at South Tyneside College and went on to specialise in Graphics and Multimedia at the University of Sunderland. The art history aspect of these courses was considered dry by most, but Cheryl found them fascinating. Being able to delve deep into the backgrounds of artists that had long fascinated her, such as Caravaggio and Picasso. She would go on to achieve multiple Distinctions in her Graphic Design studies, and that would be the way her career path would lead for several years.
In 2007 although talented at design, Cheryl realised her heart belonged to art and became focused on finding her artistic voice. She knew texture and a connection to nature was intrinsic to her work, which led to her creating an artwork with deeply textured, organic forms that would later become her signature style. This piece began the first of three collections, Origins, which was followed by the Pathos collection and most recently joined by Gaia. Alongside these collections, Cheryl has created a great variety of private and public commissions, sent to over 15 countries and a particular joy in 2020 was creating a 6ft plaster sculpted version of Matisse’s The Dance.
In 2023 she won both the London Invitational Art Contest and The Cass Art Award.
In 2013 Cheryl left England to settle in the South of Wales. She has mountains at her back, a warmer sea in front of her, and new forests to explore to provide endless inspiration.
About the Art
After a year or two of intense experimentation with methods and techniques, that first all-white textural piece evolved into a new artwork named Omega, which would be the beginning of my first collection, Origins. I called it thus as it was the start of everything for me, the seeds from which all my successive work has followed. Origins grew from my sense of nature as a sanctuary, refuge and restoration and my deep love of texture, and it is an ongoing collection I’m still adding works. Every piece is directly inspired by the natural world, not just the look of a mountain or the colour of the sea, but the very essence of nature. The unique experience of breathing to the very bottom of your lungs and feeling completely free when you stand on top of a mountain, or how the roar of the ocean, the tang of the salt air and the sting of cold on your cheeks drive any worries and thoughts from your mind.
We are mammals, designed to be with nature, where we feel truly at peace, but it is not always practical in the modern world to spend time there when we need to. I wanted these artworks to encapsulate some of that peace, through my use of organic forms, natural materials and colours and most of all, deep texture that allows light to create shadows and highlights that constantly change the landscape of the piece.
The Ancient Greeks believed that creativity was separate from humanity, an external force lent to us by divine spirits. At times, mine has felt like a living force within me, not just guiding but wanting to steer. This was most true in 2020 when during an extensive period of illness I was simultaneously unable to create and overwhelmed with intense thoughts and feelings brought on by my new situation. As I rested my body, my creativity paced, as a restless tiger caged and poorly fed. That hungry beast took the myriad of swirling emotions and wrapped around them until they were hard as a diamond. The only way to be free was to purge it all, into plaster and paint.
Thus my second collection was born and became the first time I moved away from nature as a direct inspiration, instead turning my lens internally. Each piece in the 10 artwork collection is intrinsically unique, formed instinctively at the height of the purest emotion, it is allowed to become what it must.
While my first collection is about our natural world and its calming, restorative side, my second collection, Gaia dives much deeper into our primal connection with the natural world. How at our core, we are still very similar to our cave-dwelling ancestors which puts us at odds with the man-made, synthetic world we spend the majority of our time in. We spend more time inside buildings than ever before, and our physical and mental health reflects that. Gaia uses plaster, natural earth pigment, and non-toxic eco-varnish to explore the healing effects of returning to our natural environment.
