Lisa's Art News

2008-06-11T12:53:00.005-05:00

I just returned from a vacation in Dominica, a southern Caribbean island. It looks a lot like St Lucia, with very high mountains dropping right into the ocean. The diving and snorkeling are wonderful there and it's quite rugged and undeveloped with beautiful tropical rain forests. I saw and photographed a tropical flower called plumeria that I've only seen before in photographs. I've discovered that these flowers also grow in warmer climates in the U.S. such as South Florida and South Texas. I am planning on a plumeria painting once I get a large canvas primed. Here are a few photos I took in Dominica:

Plumeria

Earlier this week I received an email from an artist who lives in Washington D.C. who told me she's been following my work since she saw it in American Artist in 2002. She was interested in some private lessons and will be flying in to study with me for three days later this month. I am flattered! Although I don't focus on teaching regularly, I am looking forward to working with her and teaching her my layering/glazing technique. She's already accomplished enough that I think she will catch on quickly.

In August I will begin showing at a new gallery in Salt Lake City. Currently the gallery is under construction and I've been working with one of the owners, who already has some successful art related businesses in the area, with selecting several of my pieces to get started. I'll provide more information when the gallery is closer to opening. It sounds like they have some solid plans to make a splash right off!

2008-05-15T17:55:00.003-05:00

I've completed the third of my three part Calla Lily series, "Callas." This one is the largest and most complex in terms of composition. Lots of color, that's for sure! "Callas," along with "Calla Candy" will be showing at Harris Gallery in Houston.

"Callas," 36" x 48"

2008-04-08T08:27:00.003-05:00

I'm taking a break this week before getting back to my Calla Lily series. The current piece, in progress, may not be quite as "over the top" color-wise as "Calla Candy."

Here's a new painting that was sold at the Temple Show:

"Strawberries," 12" x 16"

2008-04-02T04:42:00.007-05:00

The Temple Show is this weekend and I've completed another Calla Lily piece that I'll include in the show.

"Calla Candy," 30" x 48"

I'm working on a third Calla Lily for my Houston gallery, and hope to complete it this month. This series has been fun to paint, with all the undulating shapes and intense colors.

2008-01-17T07:44:00.000-06:00

I'm in the midst of completing a corporate commission, and it's similar to a painting on my website, "White Night Flowers." I'll be shipping it out on Monday. In getting my packaging together for the shipment, I discovered a new product that I'm excited about. You might wonder how packaging products could be exciting, but bear with me. For all of you (myself included) who think Styrofoam peanuts are the scourge of the planet, there's something new that's not at all harmful for the environment. They are peanuts made of corn starch, with no petrochemicals at all and fully biodegradable. The ones I bought are actually produced by a company that also makes hot chocolate. Strange, I know, but these peanuts are also edible. Amazingly, they smell, look and even taste like Cheetos (sans the dyes, salt and flavorings). Here's what they look like:

Since I don't have any new paintings to post just yet, I'll instead show a couple of paintings that have recently been acquired for corporate and public collections. The first is "Dahlia" which is at a law office in Dallas.

"Dahlia," 29" x 33"

"Iris Triptych" was acquired for a large medical center, although I don't yet know which one:

"Iris Triptych," 36" x 60"

Once I complete my current commission, I'll return to painting new work for the Temple Show here in Nashville on April 4 and 5.

2007-12-05T05:42:00.001-06:00

My new Calla Lily series is underway now, and I've completed the first one. These paintings have a mix of feminine and masculine imagery within the shapes and forms of the calla lilies. I call the series "Reveal."

Reveal, 32" x 42," acrylic on canvas

I've also just completed an unusual perspective of a passion flower for my Houston Gallery. This one was a real challenge because of the vast amount of detail in the passion flower.

"Passion Flower," 30" x 40," acrylic/canvas

Right now I'm working on a 60" x 46" commission for a medical center, which has a deadline of mid-January, so my Calla Lily series is on hold until after the commission is completed. I plan to debut my Calla Lily series at the Temple Show in Nashville in April.

2007-10-01T16:17:00.000-05:00

As we move into fall, I am finally getting focused on replenishing my inventory, especially of florals. My first new flower painting is a white lotus, from the photo shoot I did this summer.

"White Lotus," 30" x 30"

Now I'm working on piece with an unusual perspective of calla lilies, and I've also started work on a passion flower. The passion flower is amazingly intricate, yet I'm finding it an enjoyable challenge. My new paintings will all be large, as they allow me more room for creative expression, while also selling the best.

2007-08-03T07:39:00.001-05:00

I've just completed my Northwestern University Medical Center commission and I'll be shipping the two pieces next week. These large floral commissions always take more time than I expect, mainly because of the intricacy and detail required. I'm excited about having these peices in Northwestern's public art collection; they even make nice plaques for each painting with the artist's name and birth date, as is often done in art museums.

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune of going on a photo shoot to a huge outdoor water garden store called Green and Hagstrom, just outside of Nashville. Numerous lotus flowers were blooming and I got a number of good shots. I'm loving my new digital SLR and the lenses I chose to go with it. The quality of my photos has really gone up. With my new lotus shots, I now have plenty of material to replenish my lotus/floralinventory. Here are a few examples:

I have been invited to show at the Temple Arts Festival here in Nashville again next year, and I've accepted. This year's show was a great success for me and I look forward to showing there again next year. If you're in the area, mark your calendar for April 5 & 6!

2007-05-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

It seems that summer is commission time for me, and that's definitely the case again this year. I'm getting ready to start on two 40" x 60" paintings for Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago, which will keep me busy, along with my travels, into August. I'm honored to get this commission because Northwestern, one of the nation's top medical centers, is also recognized among a distinguished group of medical centers in the U.S. that have world class public art collections. I am excited about having two of my paintings included in this prestigious collection.

Since I don't have any recently completed paintings to post this time, I'll include a painting that's not on my website so it will be new to the readers of this blog. This painting is the first commission I did for M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Center in 2004. It's a large piece at 5' x 4' and very stylized. My photos never quite captured all the subtle shadows and lights that can be seen when viewing this piece in person, so I never posted it to my website. But maybe you'll get a good enough idea by this photo:

"Trumpets," acrylic on canvas, 5' x 4' , collection M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Hospital

2007-04-28T09:21:00.000-05:00

The Temple Art Show is a couple of weeks behind me now. It was a successful event and I'm very pleased with the results. The reception to my more experimental "River Birch" series was strong and I now have some ideas for taking this series further.

I just got a new Canon close up lens and I'm excited about getting some abstract botanical and floral shots to use as inspiration for new paintings. I'm also going to paint a few lotus flowers this year, something I haven't done in several years. My inventory of lotus paintings has long sold out and my inspiration for painting them has returned along with a few ideas for an unusual presentation using multiple canvases in varying sizes. You'll see them here first.

I've just completed a couple of new pieces which will be going to my Houston Gallery, shown here:

"Poppy Diptych," 36" x 48"

"Fuschia," 28" x 18" acrylic/canvas

2007-02-15T10:49:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's almost March and I haven't posted to this blog since November. In January I finished a complete redesign of my website, which was long overdue. Since then I've been working on some new paintings but most are still in progress. One piece I've just completed is "Blueberries." It's small at 11" x 14."

Sold

I'm happy to announce that the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has aquired another painting of mine, "Summer Petunias." This brings to five the number of my paintings they now have in their collection. I'm honored, as always.

sold

Summer Petunias, 30" x 40"

Currently I'm working on a 3' x 4' diptych of poppies, which I'll post here when I'm done. My next Nashville exhibition will be at the Temple Art Show, April 14 and 15. This is a wonderful event and if you're in the Middle Tennessee area, I hope to see you there.

2006-11-11T07:36:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are the four commissioned paintings I did for the lobby of a north Texas hospital. All are 4' x 3' in acrylic on canvas:

Now that this commission is complete, I am taking a little time off from painting. I have two new art students coming next week for their first lesson. I don't teach painting regularly, but I do like to teach one or two serious students a year, in private lessons, because it's so rewarding to help people develop their painting skills. The new students are friends and they asked to take lessons with me together, which I think will be fun. There's an interesting story related to one of the new students. Once we began communicating about lessons she realized she owned one of my paintings, which I had never signed. It's a piece I created when I was studying with my teacher, Bunn Gray, over a decade ago. I left several paintings at his house for him to hang. After he died in 2002, one of his other students told me I needed to pick up my paintings. I kept putting it off, and then (although I didn't know it) all my paintings were included in Bunn's estate sale. My new student happened to attend that estate sale and bought one! It's a large, 3' x 4' white Clematis, which she has in her dining room. She told me she decorated the room around the painting because she likes it so much. I was flattered to hear this -- all artists love to know a person will decorate around a painting rather than simply selecting a painting to match the decor. Although I neglected to claim my paintings, resluting in my losing any income from them, I am happy to know someone is enjoying one of pieces so much.

2006-09-27T06:45:00.000-05:00

Lot's going on here, I'm still hard at work on my four painting hospital commission, plus I'm working on a few other projects as well. It looks like "Two Yellow Blooms" (shown above) will be made into a book cover. I'll give more details when I have the information. The original painting is 22" x 28" and is available for sale at Harris Gallery in Houston.

I've begun working with a company in Califorina that sells into the corporate and health care markets. They have just purchased two pieces for a corporate placement in Southern California. My second "abstract leaves" painting (in progress) is on hold until I complete my current projects. Locally, three of my originals plus a giclee will be featured in a show home at Annandale during the Parade of Homes starting October 14. They've chosen "Fall Leaves," "River Birch III" and "Parthenon I" for the home, plus a"Tall Lotus" giclee. You can see River Birch III by scrolling down to my May post. Parthenon I and Tall Lotus are on my website. (I'll be updating my website soon with additional new work. ) I went by the home to see how everything looked (I've never toured a show home before) and it was fabulous, really too much to take in with just one visit. It was built and designed by a local company, Castle Contractors. I photographed one of my paintings, Fall Leaves, in its setting for the show, which I've posted here.

2006-08-26T07:22:00.000-05:00

This is my newest floral painting, Summer Petunias. It's 30" x 40" and can be seen at Harris Gallery in Houston.

I'm still seeing petunias blooming profusely around town, but I can feel fall on its way, especially in the mornings. My fall painting schedule is pretty full -- today I'm starting a new commission of four 4' x 3' floral paintings for the lobby of a hospital in North Texas. I always feel honored to create art for hospitals because I truly believe art can transform environments and enhance healing. When the commission is complete in late October or early November, I'll post images of the pieces here.

I have been invited to participate in the Temple Art Show in Nashville next April and I've accepted. This show, in my opinion, is the best of its kind. Last year I called all my artist friends and urged them to see the show, as I'd never seen anything comparable in Nashville. The show will be open to the public on April 14 and 15 at the Temple on Harding Road in Nashville. I plan to paint a few new florals since this is a spring show. I should have additional exhibitions to announce soon as I am focusing on getting a few lined up for 2007 and beyond.

2006-06-13T05:52:00.000-05:00

This is the season when flowers are blooming everywhere, and my interest as florals as a subject for painting is stimulated. One of my favorite flowers is the Trumpet. They grow "upside down" in clusters that can number in the hundreds on a mature plant. I've painted several versions, and I'm honored to say that M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Hospital in Houston is aquiring my "Trumpet Diptych" (shown above). This is a 3' x 4' painting. It will accompany three other large pieces of mine that M.D. Anderson owns.

Currently I'm working on a colorful garden scene, and I've just finished the first of my abstract fall leaves series. The one shown below is "Fall Leaves I" (ok, I know I'm not too creative with the names of my paintings LOL). The size of this piece is 24" x 36,"

I've just begun representation by a new gallery in Shreveport Louisiana, Amy Baber Fine Art. The gallery owner and director are both from Memphis and bring an impressive background in art sales to their new venue. They have solid connections and have already assembled a strong group of artists. They have a wonderful location on Line Avenue. Here's a painting of mine that can be see at their gallery. It's called "Tomato Stack" and it's 12" x 35."

2006-05-04T08:34:00.000-05:00

I've been remiss in offering news updates on my website -- this will be an easy way for me to do it more consistently. So the first news is that I will finally offer news!

This year I'm getting more focused on painting again, after being so busy last year with a home construction project that I did less than usual, art-wise. Currently I'm working on an asbstact painting of fall leaves. Very different for me. I'll post a photo when I'm done. Recently, I finished my three piece River Birch series, also quite different for me.

This is the one I like best, River Birch III. It's large, at 3' x 5.'

Sold

The painting below is a tryptych of azaleas I did for a hospital on the East coast. I completed this in March.

Lately people have been asking me when I will do another exhibition. I haven't scheduled anything yet, but I'm focused on finding the right venue for another solo exibition. To see my work outside of Nashville, visit Harris Gallery in Houston, Fogle Fine Art in Jacksonville and Barrie Holt Gallery in New Orleans. I recently began working with a dealer in London as well.
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