Location: United States
I graduated from Herron School of Art and Design in 2011 with degrees in Drawing, Art Education, and a minor in Art History. I teach by day and paint by night. My work mostly consist of acrylic paintings on canvas, although
I have begun dabbling in installations. The imagery in my work is layered so that the subject matter becomes skewed and almost unrecognizable. I am really interested in historical artwork, architecture, and feminism so they tend to end up in my work.
All of the art in this portfolio is made using the same methodology. First I find several images that I find compelling for some reason. They could be pictures that I have taken on my travels, or imagery obtained on creative commons. Second, I play with layering the images in photoshop until I have a composition that I am pleased with. I then grid the image and build a canvas that is proportionate. Fourth, I start painting the image in acrylic paint from the left side of the canvas to the right side. I go carefully, square by square, so that I don't loose to much detail from the original image. Next, I sweep from right to left glazing and adjusting details. Finally, I sign and date the work, and apply varnish.
his acrylic painting, measuring 95 by 63 inches, is based on a digital collage created on Photoshop. The photoshop file has around 6 layers that are overlapping with various filters causing each layer to interact with the one below it differently. One of the layers consists of a beautiful painting by Tamara de Lempicka (one of my favorite artists, you should check her work out at http://www.delempicka.org). I also included an image of my favorite statue, which I actually have tattooed on my arm along with the phrase "Art is long, Life is short" in latin. The subject of said tattoo is the Nike of Samothrace- a timeless beauty of immense proportions created in Greece around the year 200 B.C.E. She now lives in the Louvre in Paris, France. I was able to see the statue in person over the summer and she did not disappoint. Another layer of the mystery as to what the hell is going on in this painting is a drawing I found at Project Gutenburg that was done of a pattern found in something Roman. The pattern consists of spirals (my obsession) and is layered several times.
Lisa Sears, Tamara Nike, 95 x 63 in., Acrylic, 2015, $3,500
This painting was inspired by my son. I was trying to decide on the content for this image and asked my 3 year old son his opinion. He confidently replied "lights, color tabs(the kind you toss in the tub), and letters". After playing around with lots of different images and collaging them in different ways in photoshop, I settled on this image. It has a sculpture of large plywood letters painted silver, blue color dispersing in water, and a lightbulb hanging from a cord- which was copied 7 times and given different layer affects and sizes. I then used my usual process of overlaying the image with a grid. I built a canvas that was proportional, and gridded it. The next step was painting the image square by square top to bottom (or left to right because I was working on it sideways). Finally I went back and reworked most of the canvas, refining colors, addressing the edges (they are painted too!), and accenting some of the more gestural movement of the water. Oh and I found a lightbulb I accidentally left out the first go round.
Dark Light, 57 x 32, Acrylic on Canvas, January 18-February 13, 2016, $615
?Very VersaillesThis painting has two layers. The image of the garden is a cropped version of a photo that I took in the gardens at the Palace of Versailles in France. The second layer was an overlay from pixlr.com/express. I liked the dots because they bring to mind the work of Roy Lichtenstein. I liked the vibrant colors the overlay created and the effect it had on smoothing out the sky. This painting is done in Acrylic on canvas measuring 31 inches by 78 inches. Started August 15, 2015- Finished October 10, 2015. $1,040
This painting is of the monster Charybdis. According to the Encyclopedia Brittanica she was an immortal and irresistible monster who beset the narrow waters traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings described in Homer's Oddesey, Book XII. Charybdis, who lurked under a tree a bowshot away on the shore opposite another monster Scylla, drank down and belched forth the waters thrice a day and was very dangerous. Her character was most likely the personification of a whirlpool. The shipwrecked Odysseus barely escaped her clutches by clinging to a tree until the improvised raft that she swallowed floated to the surface again after many hours.
This painting of Charybdis is based on several different layers of images collaged in photoshop. One being of a woman and her hand, another hair, another spirals and peacock feathers referenced earlier on this page, another an architectural drawing of pillars from Roman and Greek Temples. Each layer interacts with the one below it differently creating vibrant colors. This digital image is then gridded and painted carefully, square by square onto the canvas. With so many layers interacting together it was very slow going to keep track and not loose any of them.
Charybdis, Epic for Emily, 19 by 21 inches on stretched canvas, Acrylic, 2015, $645
Fortuna Brevis: Mal Fortuna and Buena Fortuna
? This acrylic diptych is based on two digital collages consisting of three layers. It is painted in acrylic on two black gessoed canvases measuring 31 inches by 56 inches each.
Mal Fortuna is the representation of the goddess of bad luck in ancient Rome. The woman is based off of a statue of Fortuna, and the ovals are based off of a sketch by Al Biruni’ who was an 11th-century mathematician, astronomer and scholar. The drawing is of the phases of the moon. Her green aura is meant as deception, seemingly healthy and vital, but actually toxic. The spirals in her background grow downward. She is half of the Fortuna Brevis diptych. Buena Fortuna is the representation of the goddess of good luck in ancient Rome. The woman is based off of a mirror images of a statue of Fortuna. Her red aura is meant as a symbol of vitality. The spirals in her background reach upward. She is half of the Fortuna Brevis diptych.
$825 for the pair
“Tamara Nike”
“Dark Light”
“Very Versailles”
“Charybdis, Epic for Emily”
“Fortuna Brevis”
