Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994 TAG: 9401050056
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By KEN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
Mail is not delivered here. There is no telephone, no window, or any other common outlet for contact with the outside world.
The ideal locale for an artist.
"It's a great place to hang out," LeShock said, his easy-going manner more what you would expect from a typical college student than an art professor.
The basement itself is a cross between an art studio and a college student's apartment, with photos of movie idols taped to the walls and tables of art supplies scattered around the room.
There is even a punching bag hanging from the ceiling - reminiscent of LeShock's boxing days as an undergraduate at Penn State University.
But despite his laid-back style, when it comes to art, LeShock is all business.
"It's definitely not a hobby," he said. "You do what you have to do. If you're going to do artwork, you have to sell it."
This month, LeShock has a special exhibit of his work on display in DiscoveryWorks Children's Museum in the Norwood Center in Radford.
LeShock said making a living with a pencil and sketch pad fulfills the dream he has had since he began drawing as a child growing up in Pennsylvania.
"I was always that kid in grade school who used to draw in class," he said with a laugh. "I've never not done this."
After graduating from college, LeShock worked as a commercial artist in New York and Philadelphia before coming to Radford University to teach 16 years ago.
Teaching others how to create works of art is as rewarding as creating them himself, LeShock said.
"The nice thing about teaching is that when someone makes something great, you have a part in it," he said. "It's like being in on the victory."
When he is not teaching his students the ins and outs of graphic design, LeShock usually is in his art studio, creating charcoal sketches like his anti-war collection now at DiscoveryWorks.
But despite being a professional artist, not all of LeShock's work is for profit. While he creates some sketches for donation, others are purely for personal enjoyment.
"This is not some kind of catharsis sort of thing," LeShock said, looking over a collection of religious works he completed six months ago. "It's more of an intellectual exercise. By the same token, it's not a photograph, so you have to put some emotion into it."
But while LeShock the artist may work with emotion, LeShock the observer works with objectivity. As a testament to his humility, he evaluates his own sketches with the unforgiving eye of a professional critic.
"This one is OK," he said of a sketch of the Crucifixion. "If they were all that good, maybe they'd be art."
ON DISPLAY A special exhibit of charcoal illustrations, "Suite: Illustrations by Ed LeShock" is on display through this month at DiscoveryWorks Children's Museum in Radford, with poems selected and illustrated by by LeShock. The museum, on the second floor of the Norwood Center, 1115 Norwood St., is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Call 633-2233.
by CNB