Lisa McShane - Northwest Landscapes, Artist Statement

Bio

Lisa uses layers of oil paint to capture light and water. 

One of her paintings, The Sun Sets on the Slope of the Horse Heaven Hills, was on exhibit in the American Embassy in Yemen for several years. Mountains at Dusk is in the collection of the Washington State Governor's Mansion in Olympia, Washington. In 2015 she was the Artist in Residence at Petrified Forest National Park and in 2017 was the Artist in Residence at Grand-Canyon-Parshant National Monument.

Her studio is on Samish Island surrounded by eagles, trees, and tidelands. 



Artist Statement

The art that I love best moves my soul and I aim for that deep beauty in my paintings. I love the place I live and the people in my world and so I work again and again to capture what I see and experience. I want people to see this achingly beautiful world that I see.

My paintings begin as drawings and often as a deeply personal memory of a specific moment where the light stirred me: a river, an early morning on a beach, the island where I live at low tide, the view of the mountains and rivers I love from above. I draw directly on toned linen, paint the image in umber, and then add the sky using as many layers as it takes to develop depth and texture. Skies, clouds, water, reflections and a sense of luminosity are central to my work and so I begin with them.

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Bio & Statement

Bio

Lisa uses layers of oil paint to capture light and water. 

One of her paintings, The Sun Sets on the Slope of the Horse Heaven Hills, was on exhibit in the American Embassy in Yemen for several years. Mountains at Dusk is in the collection of the Washington State Governor's Mansion in Olympia, Washington. In 2015 she was the Artist in Residence at Petrified Forest National Park and in 2017 was the Artist in Residence at Grand-Canyon-Parshant National Monument.

Her studio is on Samish Island surrounded by eagles, trees, and tidelands. 



Artist Statement

The art that I love best moves my soul and I aim for that deep beauty in my paintings. I love the place I live and the people in my world and so I work again and again to capture what I see and experience. I want people to see this achingly beautiful world that I see.

My paintings begin as drawings and often as a deeply personal memory of a specific moment where the light stirred me: a river, an early morning on a beach, the island where I live at low tide, the view of the mountains and rivers I love from above. I draw directly on toned linen, paint the image in umber, and then add the sky using as many layers as it takes to develop depth and texture. Skies, clouds, water, reflections and a sense of luminosity are central to my work and so I begin with them.

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