Leslie Emery is a mid-career abstract painter and mixed media artist specializing in the techniques, methods and protocols of "Reverse Painting." Reverse Painting is a well-known historic method of painting dating back to the Middle Ages. The method consists of applying paint on one side, the "back" side of glass, acrylic or any clear surface and then viewing it from the "front" side after it has been turned around. The availability of new materials enables Emery to expand her painting from traditional paintings to wall sculpture using acrylics on acrylic glass and hand-made, one-of-a-kind wall forms. Emery's painting especially commissioned for this year's festival is one of these. It is a 36" radius, embodies the iconic shape of the Inception Disk, a disk within a disk, with an abstracted, hyper-realistic sunset over water.

Emery's work is an exploration into the unknown, the spontaneous, the rhythmic movement of manipulating paint in bold strokes coupled with the delicacies of detail, making and creating a beautiful piece of artwork that resonates associations, both directly and indirectly, pertaining to Nature and Man. For more information on Emery's work visit her at Leslie Emery Art.