BELFAST – I can feel the paint creeping in between my toes. It’s cold and wet and borderline uncomfortable, but I know if I move I will mess up the shot. It’s crawling over my big toe now, but my camera and I remain focused while Eric splashes, drips and spreads paint all over his canvas.

In Eric Leppanen’s basement, paint in between your toes is just a hazard of the job. The local artist seems to pride himself on his paint splattered domain, his multicolored shoes, and his acrylic stained blue jeans. His carefree manner about the mess turns out to be infectious.

Paint is fun, especially in between your toes.

Leppanen has spent the last several years embracing his new life. After leaving a corporate job he had held for 16 years, Leppanen allowed his creative energy to burst through, using 100-percent reclaimed and donated materials to create grand works of art rife with chaotic designs and psychedelic colors.

“I look at my art like being a kid again,” Leppanen says, “I want people to interact with the art, to touch it with their hands and experience it. It’s playful. It has layers and texture that can only be experienced by running your hands over it.”

For the last several weeks, Eric and I have spent a lot of time and several morning meals together working on a video for his website, but I’m just one little morsel on Eric’s breakfast plate.

Just recently, Leppanen and nine other artists locked themselves in the Center for Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport with a pretty serious pile of donated refuse and set to work, using the materials to create an art installation in 24 hours. Leppanen’s contribution to the installation, collectively titled “Resisting Entropy,” was a complete drum kit made out of buckets, pots and pans. (included is a video of Eric’s son Zepherin giving a beastly demonstration of the kit)

In addition, Leppanen has signed on to be a part of Belfast’s “Please Be Seated” program, in which local artists design a unique bench for downtown. Leppanen's "Buttkit Bench" is sponsored by Brambles and will be found outside the store this summer.

And if that doesn't seem like a full enough plate, Leppanen is also in the final stages of planning his first solo show, “Afterlife”, at Asymmetrick Arts in Rockland. The show opens on July 5.

Check out “Breakfast” to learn more about Eric and his art.

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Contact Wes Sterrs: wes.sterrs@gmail.com