Longtime SCC staff member Leslie Potter has decided to retire. Les has decades of experience as a practicing artist, teacher, curator, preparator and vital member of the artistic community of Saskatchewan AND of course, as an SCC staff member.

As we celebrate his time with us over the next three months, the Saskatchewan Craft Council will be running Ask Les, your opportunity to ask him anything, about anything.

Submit your questions to: scc.newsletter@sasktel.net. Please put Ask Les in the subject line.

We accept any and all questions (but can’t guarantee they will all be answered)!

Les, as a sculptor and someone who creates large scale public pieces, do you have any tips about perspective? Especially when it comes to transitioning successfully from a small maquette to full size. Why do things sometimes look unbalanced and unsuccessful when scaled up dramatically?

If there was only one thing I could use from all of the things that my mentor, Bill Epp passed on to me, it would be this: When you enlarge a model or maquette, regardless of its function or shape, you must take into consideration our viewing perspective.  An elegant-looking maquette 18 inches high, if expanded exactly in all dimensions  to 18 feet high will look dumpy and lack the sophistication of the smaller version.  I have experimented with elongation rates between 5 and 15%.  I once had a conversation with an architect from Toronto about this phenomenon and all of a sudden he slapped himself on the forehead and said, “Of course, that’s why my models look better than the real thing”.

Les, what is the meaning of life?

When you can see upside down you will understand it.