We recently connected with Leia Sands and have shared our conversation below.

Leia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was born in Florida and grew up in the Fort Myers area where I went to school, was a cheerleader & coach, and spent my summers at the beach. I am a self-taught artist and have been creating art since I was old enough to pick up a crayon and started drawing on the walls of my home. My parent’s encouraged my creative abilities by providing me the proper supplies so I wouldn’t keep leaving my mark on the walls. During my childhood school years my art teachers would always enter my drawings & artwork into local fair contests, regional & state contests for art where I was blessed to place in the top 3 winners spots on many occasions. After high school I moved to NYC where I am a resident. In the beginning I did my art & worked a couple full time jobs in the areas of Hospitality, Paralegal, and Indie record labels while I was raising my kids. Once my kids moved out on their own is when I decided to quit my full time “safe “ job and take the risk to be a Full time Artist in NYC. As a Full Artist you can find my Street Artwork and Fine Art Sculptures/ Paintings on the walls of schools in All 5 Burroughs, in Homes of Private Collectors & Celebrities, & Galleries around the world!

Leia Sands gets her natural artistic abilities from both of her parents who are creatives as well. She intuitively paints how she feels & whatever subject that comes to mind the moment a blank canvas is put in front of her and the music starts playing. Leia is quoted as saying “I paint my thoughts and make them beautiful as my paintbrush is my pen”. She doesn’t stick to 1 style of painting as her creativity & passion is what drives her to create her beautiful thought provoking masterpieces as she sees fit. She has paintings in Abstract Art, Pop Art, Landscape, Figurative, Surrealism, and Contemporary Art and is known for her bright bold colors that jump right off the canvas with music, nature, esoteric, mystical symbolism, and positive subject matter.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

LEIA Sands is an Artist to Celebrities in the Hip Hop Music & Film Industry. Her paintings hang in the homes of Pioneer Rappers Grandmaster Caz from Cold Crush Brothers, MC G.L.O.B.E. from Soul Sonic Force, and her name is tagged under Hip Hop Rapper Kurtis Blow name In a collaboration with friend/fellow NYC Artist Will Power on his “MC Coke La Rock” painting among other private collectors.

Leia speaks at Artist Panel Talks for Galleries around the USA & with Hip Hop Blvd to educate the Adults & Youth about how Art & Music influence each other. I made a painting called “ From The Streets To The Galleries” at a Live Painting Art Show called “Just for Fun” in collaboration with Lower East Side, NYC Underground Film Actress Patti Astor who was in the film “WildStyle” by Charlie Ahearn, Patti also owned the “Fun Gallery”back in the 1980’s where Keith Haring and Jean-Michelle Basquiat were “Discovered”… at the LIVE Painting “Just For Fun” Art Exhibit I collaborated with Legendary 1970’s & 80’s Aerosol/Graffiti Artists Snake 1, Al Diaz (Bomb 1/ “SAMO” partners w/Basquiat), Eric Orre (Keith Haring Art partner) COSE TDS (The Death Squad) DUKE9, and other very notable Aerosol Artist’s & Fine Artists in which has been displayed for exhibition only (not 4 sale) around NY Galleries & also in a Hip Hop Culture Documentary. called “Sons and Daughter’s of Hip Hop” by Samuel Hawkins.

LEIA Sands has been interviewed for 2 Hip Hop Culture Film Documentaries in 2022 for “ Son’s & Daughter’s of Hip Hop” & “World Break Dancing Championships” in NYC. Release dates TBA.

LEIA continues to work with Hip Hop Blvd, Hip Hop Alliance w/ Pioneer Rapper Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Caz Entertainment, and MC G.L.O.B.E. on future projects and is also a Board Member for the Easten Tennessee Arts Center, Tennessee, USA while creating her Art as a FULL-TIME Artist.

Leia Sands painting “Beautiful Chaos” made Creative Artist Magazine’s Cover twice & is a featured artist in 2 issues for their 2020 & 2021 Fall & Winter Print Editions in which both issues SOLD OUT for the 1st & 2nd time in Creative Artist Magazines history which featured LEIA in a 6 page spread of her artworks that included the following paintings: Body of Rock, Beautiful Chaos, La Bella Maria, Marilyn Monroe Bubbly, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder, Blue Bird Passion, Energy and more. Leia also has Interviews/Paintings in Splash Magazine, Sanctuary Magazine, Kingdomz Magazine, and ArtRabbit., and Creative Artist Magazine.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

SUPPORT LIVING ARTISTS!!! It’s sad that the majority of Artists are only celebrated when they are no longer on this earth when you have so many talented male & female Living Artists around the world that work on their passion everyday. Female artists have it worse as only 14% of female artists are represented or recognized by Art Galleries worldwide. We need to get Art back into the in the children’s school system so that children can learn to express themselves in a positive way that benefits them and others.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

My view on NFTS is that it’s more of an outlet for graphic designers than a Traditional Fine Artist who does tangible paintings and sculptures etc. Don’t get me wrong, some artists have made some money at it in the beginning but now many people /artists have lost their life’s savings in cryptocurrencies due to its instability in the financial market especially over the last few months. Speaking for myself, if I’m spending thousands of dollars on artwork, I want to see that artwork hanging up or displayed proudly in my house or place of business for myself and others to enjoy, to bring life into the space. Paintings & Sculptures are tangible and increase in value in a money market that has been proven for centuries. So for those reasons I choose not to participate in that avenue of graphic arts (NFT’s).

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LeiaSandsArt.com
• Instagram: @Leia_Sands
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@leiasands4999

Image Credits
Photo Credits: KOZ at Silver Tuna Studios, Artist Leia Sands, and Artist Cose TDS.