Inspiration

What is it that we find so captivating about flowers? Is it their beauty, simplicity, or how they remind us of the natural cycles of life? For artist Lisa Snow Lady, flowers are a source of endless inspiration, and they consistently find their way into her work.

Lisa’s paintings pulse with vibrant colors and bold patterns. But despite their initial appearance, there is a deep level of meaning and emotion conveyed in each work. For Lisa, flowers are a metaphor for the fragility of life and the importance of cherishing every moment.

Viewers remember the simple things in life that can bring us the greatest joy when looking at Lisa’s paintings. Her work encourages us to slow down, take a closer look at the world, and appreciate the beauty around us.

Early Life

The artist grew up in Seattle and was the oldest of three girls. She was very involved in arts and crafts from a young age and loved to take weekend trips in their camper around the Pacific Northwest. Lisa always wanted to be an artist and loved to draw and paint. She received a lot of encouragement from her parents and teachers and inspiration from the stained glass windows at her church.

Creativity ran in Lisa’s family, with her sister working as an interior designer, her cousins as fashion and medical illustrators, and her aunt as a weaver and painter. Her mother was also constantly involved in creative projects as a school teacher. This creativity was encouraged in Lisa from a young age, and she went on to become an artist herself.

Education

As she matured, Lisa developed a deep love for art and craft, evident in her early engagement with pottery and other crafts. She pursued a BA in general art and art history and a BFA in painting from the University of Washington. She also has a degree in ornamental horticulture with a focus on landscape design from Edmonds College. Her love of learning is ongoing, and Lisa constantly learns new artistic techniques through workshops, classes, and lectures, ensuring her work is fresh and ever-evolving.

Artistic Process

Lisa’s current studio is in the BallardWorks building in Seattle, WA, where she has worked and created for over 15 years. Lisa works from photo references, her sketches, and life. She begins her acrylic painting by creating an underpainting before adding detail in layers. For her collages, the artist starts with either a rough pastel sketch or a more developed acrylic painting and layers cut and torn paper to build up her work. In each media, Lisa takes liberties with color and departs from the original reference image as the work develops.

Combining her formal training in art history, graphic design, and her intuitive sense of color and composition, Lisa creates unique work. “I have an intuitive sense of color and enjoy putting interesting color palettes together,” she says. “I love to draw and am constantly sketching to improve my skills. My employment as a graphic designer helped me to see in terms of shapes and continues to inform my dramatic compositions. The addition of collage elements creates another level of interest”.

Lisa has traveled the world for inspiration, filling up her watercolor journal. The artist has traveled to Holland, Turkey, Mexico, Ireland, Italy, British Columbia, Sedona, and Catalina Island, among many other locales.

As an art history major, she draws inspiration from many artistic influences. Vermeer is one of her biggest inspirations with his strong compositions and sensitive genre subjects. Bonnard and Vuillard inspire Lisa with their colorful, domestic scenes. Richard Diebenkorn and the Bay Area Expressionists captivate her with their lively palettes. Madeline L’ Engle’s writings on making the ordinary sacred have proven foundational in Lisa’s views of the importance of art.

Projects

Lisa’s projects bring art to everyday life and make it accessible to everyone. From working with a church congregation to teaching a travel sketching class, Lisa dedicates her creative practice to making art a part of everyone’s life. She says that participating in the arts at her church is particularly gratifying because it allows her to see people reluctant to participate in projects take pride in their contributions.

Lisa’s work with wineries has also been very successful. She has had her art featured on labels for several different wineries and even won a juried competition for one of them.

“I love that I can engage in my passion and vocation and make it my career as well,” Lisa says. “It is rewarding to bring joy to others through their viewing my art. I love making personal connections through my work and meeting my collectors.”

Career and Representation

Lisa has been represented by several galleries, including Harris/Harvey in Seattle, and has had solo and group shows at numerous prestigious venues. Several noted books have featured her art, including The Landscape Painters Workbook by Mitch Albala. She has won multiple awards for her paintings, including first place at the Edmonds Arts Festival. She has also sold her work to a number of private collectors, including composer John Williams, and her work is featured in several public collections, including the Swedish Medical Center and the Office of Arts and Culture in Seattle.

The artist is a member of several professional associations, including the National Nordic Museum, Dunn Gardens, Volunteer Park Conservatory, and Artist Trust Organization. She has also been a member of the Seattle Art Museum and Cascadia Art Museum. Through these associations, Lisa has had the opportunity to teach Botanical Sketching, and she has also been able to showcase her work to a broader audience.

With her botanical themes, parks and gardens, interior spaces, and the surrounding landscape, Lisa aspires to bring joy and help people see the ordinary as beautiful in her paintings. She believes art can bring people together in dialogue and that everyone can be creative. For Lisa, art is a way of creating order out of chaos and expressing truth and meaning. The ordinary made sacred is a consistent theme in her art, and she hopes to offer beauty, truth, and hope to everyone who views her work.

View more of Lisa Snow Lady’s art on her website at https://lisasnowlady.com/