Bio

Lisa uses layers of paint to capture light and the sweeping landscapes of the American west. The abstracted, graphic and light-filled world she creates is exactly how she sees things.

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.

Artist Statement

I paint landscapes to capture light and to convey a powerful record of the world I see. 

These lands are at my core. In northwest Washington I capture the crystal clear light, early dawn, cold northern lakes, fog and long, dark shadows of winter. In eastern Washington I convey the stark beauty of this exposed, eroded land using a saturated, luminous light so that I can chase and give form to my memories.

The rich light falling on the shrub-steppe, hills and coulees are among my earliest visual impressions. Watching the ribbon of road carve through yellow fields was the map of my childhood.

I formally studied art – oil painting and cast metal sculpture – at Sonoma State University in northern California. My primary focus was bronze sculpture and in my paintings today you can see the slow, layered, multi-step technique and the graphic, abstracted shapes of those years of study.

Today I work to convey the world that I see. My goal in painting landscapes is not to document a place but to convey atmosphere, memory and the power of the land and light.