If you ask Lennie Alickman what drew her to the wild and colorful compositions that make up most of her panel paintings, she’ll describe to you a childhood surrounded by artists. Alickman has harbored a fascination for painting for as long as she can remember. Her father was an artist, as was her sister, and Alickman herself started experimenting with paint at an early age. She continued an artistic pursuit, exploring and creating throughout her childhood, then as a student at Syracuse University, where Alickman majored in Fine Arts and pursued a minor in painting.

After college, financial concerns pulled her away from what she loved, a career in banking putting the kibosh on artistic pursuits. After retirement, Alickman dove back into her passion for painting. She continued her studies, taking advantage of the abundant resources for continuous education in Provincetown. Taking classes at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM), and studying with a number of locally based artists, she continues to hone her talent.

Alickman’s approach to her work uses simplified representations of woodland animals, ocean creatures and the natural wonders that surround us, overlapping them again and again in a multitude of flat colors, creating a rich and complex palette. The artist describes her particular approach to painting as an ongoing search. “I always think that art is an exploration, Says Alickman, “What you do builds on what you’ve worked on in the past. It is a continuous process of learning and discovery.”