About the Artist

"I think of my paintings as poems, evoking a mood, a memory, a dream, that is too magical to be captured in any literal way".

Inspired by the frescoes and fairytales of old Europe, Lisa began creating her painted canvas tapestries in 2010. Both romantic and ethereal in feeling, they evolved naturally from her prior years of experience, beginning in 2000, painting murals and decorative finishes for homes. Working mostly large-scale, her paintings become a "glimpse of serenity" that invites the viewer to wander into a timeless world...quiet and lushly overgrown, like a forgotten garden, or a place yet to be discovered.

In her airy mountain studio, nestled in a little village of Northern New Mexico, she begins her painting by scraping tinted gesso onto unstretched canvas, preparing a subtly textured surface. Then, using matte acrylic paints, dry pigments, glazes, and pastels, she brushes, sands, scratches, spatters...letting the images grow naturally. Stencils she makes from pressed leaves and flowers, her nature sketches, or historical designs, are used to build layers of organic pattern and texture. Flowers, birds, and animals emerge, colors shift between faded and fresh, as she explores her landscape that is partly real, partly imaginary.

Lisa studied illustration at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. But, her enchanted dreamscape imagery, and soft antiquing effects have developed while working as a decorative artist in Northern California. Travel has also been an inspiration, with journeys over the years to Europe, the British Isles, and Japan.

Her painted tapestries and paintings show currently at galleries in the Southwest, and her studio in Truchas, New Mexico, is open to visitors by chance or appointment.