Lisa's Art News

2009-07-06T03:55:00.015-05:00

Tomatoes and Fruit Just For Fun

Its been a couple of years since I put paintings into East Nashville's Tomato Art Festival, but I happened to have a small painting of heirloom tomatoes available this year, along with two small fruit paintings, so I decided to participate. This is an extremely popular annual event hosted by the Art and Invention Gallery, which has been very successful in East Nashville. For those of you living in the middle Tennessee area, here's a link to the Festival, which will be held on August 10: Tomato Art Festival.

Here are the three pieces I'll be putting in the show:

"Strawberries II," 12" x 16"

"Mixed Berries," 14" x 18" (above)

"Heirlooms" 18" x 12" (right)

In early August I'll be returning to Reelfoot Lake, aka (to me at least) Lotus Lake. My friend Maggie, who accompanied me last year, will be returning to Nashville so we can take the journey again. Maggie moved to New Jersey last fall to take a software development job in NYC. She's an excellent photographer so it will be fun to spend time with her on a shoot at the lake again. We're going a little later this year - I want to capture more of the decay, dropped petals and browning leaves that occur as the season gets into August. There will still be plenty of fresh lotus flowers too, as they bloom continuously into September.

Currently in the planning stages: a River Birch triptych, the largest yet at 96" x 48!" This one is especially for my upcoming show in Nashville next February at the Harpeth Hall Gallery. They have a couple of very large walls where some really big paintings are called for.

2009-06-04T06:20:00.009-05:00

Last week I spent 3 full days in New York City. It was a real whirlwind with visits to the Guggenheim, MOMA, SoHo and Chelsea districts as the art high points. This was my fourth visit to New York, and the first time I really "got to know" the subway system. In the past I would take a cab anywhere that was too far to walk, but often the traffic movement slows down to a crawl. I love to walk around cities like New York, but some distances are just too far to walk and still have time to see it all. I found subway travel to be amazingly efficient and fast, once my friend Camille and I figured it out. Not really that hard to do. We bypassed all that traffic and congestion and voila, we arrived at our destinations in no time.

Heading to MOMA, just ahead on right

The Guggenheim had a Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit and it was a good one. I'm not a giant fan of architecture, but my father was an architect and he was a fan of Wright. One of his first home designs, right here in Nashville on Otter Creek Road, was a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home through and through. The exhibit gave me a greater appreciation of Wright and also helped me understand why contemporary style homes have always been my favorite (and what my husband and I live in now). Our next stop was MOMA, and it was truly mind boggling with so many of the great contemporary masterpieces under one roof. I really couldn't take it all in there was so much to see. We got lucky and arrived at the museum just after "free Friday" started, around 5 p.m. After that we called it a day.

We couldn't do an art tour of New York and skip SoHo, but it has really changed from the fabled art community of yore. I was in SoHo back in 1996 and even then signs of change and gentrification were setting in with the influx of various national chains like Gap, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. This visit was a shock as the majority of art galleries I remember had either closed or moved on. The rents just got too high for most artists and galleries. One that remains is OK Harris, perhaps my favorite gallery in New York. They carry a variety of creative, provocative and beautiful art. The realist and gritty New York city street scenes were truly evocative of late nights in the "dark" part of the city. Another artist did beautiful lake scenes with dying reeds and lily pads, and clouds reflecting in the water. One piece was very minimalist and inspired me with some new ideas. The most intriguing work was by a metal artist who bends wire to create shadows on walls that look like chairs, hands, faces, etc. The amazing part was that the shadows seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with the wire.

A tony neighborhood in Central Park West

Finally on Saturday we went to Chelsea and Central Park West. In Chelsea there is a pretty solid concentration of galleries. Many were "start up"type galleries featuring artists who had not yet emerged. Others were impressive, with highly skilled and accomplished artists, the most notable being Chuck Close. There was lots of realism represented at galleries and my theory is that realism tends to come back in vogue in times of economic downturn, when people appreciate skill over the shock value of "the art of the moment." My friend Camille found several galleries she wants to submit her art to. Me, not so much right now. Our last sojourn on Saturday was two shops just outside of Central Park West, Levain Bakery and Jacques Torres. These two are famous for their cookies, and the latter for his chocolate. I had to try cookies from both. Levain has a "web cam" and I was caught devouring one of their cookies (see photo below)! Both cookies are wonderful and very different. The Levain is giant! Its crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, full of chocolate chips and walnuts. I had mine hot out of the oven. I ate the entire cookie, although I was told they are too big to eat all at once. Not for me. My favorite, though, was Jacques Torres' chocolate chip cookie, which had lots and lots of dark chocolate throughout and a wonderful, buttery taste. I will be back next time I'm in New York!

Lisa devouring a cookie at Levain Bakery. (That's Maggie texting)

2009-05-09T09:45:00.005-05:00

"Mixed Berries," 14" x 18"

I've just finished this small fruit piece; these stacked berry paintings are fun to do but really time consuming because of all the intricate detail. Maybe I should stick with apples and tomatoes. :-)

Currently I'm working on a large lotus painting, 36" x 48" with extreme backlighting and a black background. This gives it a very contemporary look. After that I'm on to a diptych inspired by my trip to "Lotus Lake" last summer. I will definitely return again this summer to the lake!

My friend Sue McGrew and I have a joint show scheduled for next February - April at the Marnie Sheridan Gallery here in town. Its at Harpeth Hall and is one of the more attractive places to show art in Nashville. Sue is an excellent landscape artist who is well known here in Nashville and she's also a nationally recognized physician specializing in autism. An impressive dual career! I think it will be a fun show and will give me a chance to try some out some new ideas, perhaps combining photography and painting.

I'll be in New York later this month -- of course I'll be checking out the galleries and museums but also indulging another passion of mine, chocolate chip cookies and desserts. New York has some of the best cookie bakers in the country and I'm looking forward to trying the legendary Levain Bakery chocolate chip cookie as well as Jaques Torres' Chocolate Mudslide Cookie. Which will be the best?

2009-03-29T10:37:00.004-05:00

I have at last finished "River Birch V." This one is large, at 4' x 5.' It took longer to complete than anticipated, its quite intricate and detailed. I'm sure I'll paint more of this subject matter, perhaps next a triptych. In the mean time, I have another small painting of strawberries to complete along with a few experimental abstract pieces. Stay tuned for more art news coming soon.

River Birch V, 4' x 5'

2009-02-06T07:16:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone, I've not posted here in a while, I've been traveling and taking a bit of a creative break. Lots of new ideas percolating and I'll be putting them to canvas in the coming months. Currently I'm working on a large, 4' x 5' River Birch painting. I really enjoy painting river birch, with all the peeling, curving bark. I also have an abstract piece coming up, a bit of an experiment. I don't have any new paintings to share at the moment, so here's a close up photo of a lotus flower from my shoot at Reelfoot Lake last summer.

2008-12-01T08:35:00.009-06:00

I've been focusing on a commission recently of a subject matter different for me. The painting is of cotton, for a medical center in Arkansas. It was a fun and interesting challenge to create a striking visual and I actually love the contrast of white against a deep blue sky. I did this color combination in one of my lotus paintings, "White Lotus with Cobalt." Here I'm including that image along with the new cotton painting. This painting will be hung with a plaque that includes its name -- I decided on "Clouds of Cotton."

"Clouds of Cotton," 48" x 60," University of Arkansas Medical Center

"White Lotus with Cobalt," 20" x 24"

Right now I'm back to some experimentation. I recently did a shoot at Radnor Lake that included some abstract veiws of the lake. I plan on starting a painting that will perhaps be the most abstract looking piece I've done so far, abstract realism, as it is often called.

2008-09-15T07:30:00.009-05:00

My Houston reception scheduled for Saturday September 13 was cancelled for obvious reasons. It was a disappointment, and I'm sad about the wide swath of destruction that Ike wrought in South Texas. It will take a while for the area to recover and I'm not sure yet whether the reception will be rescheduled. I'll probably know this week.

Right now I'm taking a creative break and experimenting. I have some ideas for combining painting and photography, but nothing concrete yet. Here are a few of the photos that have inspired me to experiment a little. These photos were taken in August at a place called Reelfoot Lake in West Tennessee. Areas of this lake are covered in lotus flowers from mid summer to early fall. It is truly a sight to see!

2008-09-05T07:25:00.003-05:00

The evite for my exhibition at Harris Gallery is ready and I'm posting it here for those who may be interested in the show. I'll be at the gallery for the reception on September 13, 6 - 8 p.m.. Harris Gallery is located in the heart of Houston's museum district at 1100 Bissonnet. I hope to see you there!

2008-08-22T06:45:00.004-05:00

Here's a new fruit painting I just completed for my upcoming show at Harris Gallery. I've always liked fruit paintings that just show the fruit, without a special arrangement, plates, etc.

"Red Raspberries," 12" x 16"

2008-08-13T08:11:00.004-05:00

I plan to post a little more frequently over the next month -- too much time has passed since I wrote anything here. First, I'm preparing for a show in Houston at Harris Gallery. The opening recpetion will be September 13, and I'll be there. If you're in the Houston area, I hope to see you! You can get more information on Harris Gallery by clicking here. I've just completed a new painting for the show, "Plumeria," 36 x 48." Plumeria flowers don't grow here in Tennessee but they do grow in areas of South Texas. I was inspired to paint plumeria after seeing them in the Carribean.

"Plumeria," 36" x 48"

Currently I am working on a small painting of raspberries and another of strawberries. I hope to have both of these completed in the next two weeks. I've also been exploring photography as an art means in itself after a trip I took to a lake in West Tennessee that was covered in lotus flowers. I'll be posting some of the photos here later this month.

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."