Translucent layer after layer of hues create a layer of color impossible to mix upon a palette. Waiting a month or so between layers, adding another with sgraffito-ed patterns, the progress of this piece was slow, but so interesting to see unfold. Still I hear the music of the piece, in jazz, blocked with rectangles. To make a big canvas from this small study, oh, wouldn't that be fun to create! Rectangular Red Jazz Geometric Jazz Series Oil paint on canvas Stretched 2020 Art

The favorite part of my day is to use the leftover paint and swash it over a dried background with shapes and patterns to create a unified composition. The line-work is tighter than expressionism, and still it has impromptu gestures. Without thinking, letting the creative muse work out the details, it's just glorious to watch it happen through my arm. It's almost like I'm not even there creating it, just observing its creation. Watch and learn, it says. Three more layers and

The four-facing clock kept time with the effort of a pendulum. When the air was really quiet, you could hear the slicing of the metal engine with a slight woosh from the swinging the the pendulum. Poe's story with that swinging object, still haunts me evermore. The technique that I used to paint is secondary to capturing the frozen moment in time, pun intended. En plein air, I sat on the sidewalk to study the clock's pendulum, with a paintbrush, palette and easel. Passerby's

Monochromatic illustrations show the true test of craftsmanship. Showcase your understanding of the elements of design using your skills in pushing and pulling contrast plus considering the width, gesture, application of line-work. Contrast in value is missing in this piece to which the end result is passively unified. Peeking into the details, the geometrics are there and so is the expressive nature of application. Abstract Orange Jazz Geometric Jazz Series Acrylic paint on

The color of the dirt from Pueblos inspires this geometric jazz piece of art. Other pieces in the series have tight line-work versus this pice where the gestural movement showcases my emotions in a manner of abstract expressionism. Quickly pushing and pull the paint over layers, some the impatience is clearly seen when the color mixes upon the canvas because the painted layers were not yet dry. Upon seeing the horizon of Denver lights at night from a mountain top, I re-create

In 1997 I reached the Northwest coast once again. My studio was about the size of a walk-in closet with tall walls to paint the large canvas. The palette was inspired by a visit to the Southwest with all the Native American hues and tones, pulled from the earth. Six circular faces in unity are all connected with curves and patterns. This piece has travelled the continent several times back and forth now, exhibited in a few places, and though not literally glued to my side, I

In 1992, I designed the informational audio cassette and compact disc insert of "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: Songs For Leonard Peltier" a CD produced by Four Winds Trading Company, seller of Native American Music, Books & Video. For the next decade or so, I studied indigenous cultures from around the world. One of my favorite experiences from Four Winds was when I met Micky Hart who produced "Planet Drum" a world music album. Mickey Hart was a member of the rock band the Gr

The rhythm, pattern and palette are key to the geometric jazz series. I loved my green one so much that I had to do it again with a blue one. The art collector acquired both this blue one and the upcoming yellow one. I'll have to create another few, because it's inside of me, and I just can't move along daily without thinking about it. I'll listen to some music and just start swirling the paint along with the rhythm of the music. What sort of music? House, jazz, classical, St

The painting was displayed in the film "Mr. & Mrs. Christmas" an independent production in Vancouver. The stretched canvas was so big, I had to borrow a friend's car for delivery to the production office. When I left Canada, another friend helped me tear it away from its stretcher to roll into a transportable unit that would fit in my car. On the east coast, another friend helped me by building a new wooden stretcher for it. It's heavy duty now. It's great to have friends. I

Point Roberts Cliff was visible on a clear day from the mud flats. During low tide, walking along the perimeter of the concrete barrier, the mud became so deep that it sucked my Galoshes off. There I am, knee deep in the mud without a rubber for my left foot. I tried pulling the dang thing up, but the suction was so strong, it wouldn't budge. Mother nature versus Lisa. She won. Walked home with my tail between my legs. With so many names attached to my given name, Lisa, a de

At the bottom of the eagle's tree lay portions of ducks once flying in unison. It's called a murmuration. Seeing hundreds of birds whirling to avoid the eagle's grasp, walking along the dike holding back the high tide of Boundary Bay, near the wind swept grasses with puffy white toppings, these are the visuals coinciding with memories of friendly conversations pursuing lofty projects, winning the British Columbia Chamber of Commerce award for design. Torn from the stretcher,

It wasn't raining bullfrogs like it does in the south. Hiking through the misty rain, imagine walking through a cloud. The bluish-grey clouds would swirl down towards the horizon. Americans spell gray, Brits spell grey. A rose is a rose by any other name. Ghosted mountains and volcanos played tricks on the mind, seemly not so far away from the Cascade Range of southern British Columbia. Even in August, the chill could creep inside your bones, waiting for days upon the sun to

A birds-eye-view of the forest with lakes, streams and ponds. Drips of Jackson Pollock. The integrity of the canvas proof of originality. Variations of greens with purple-ly-blue animal tracks. Torn away from its wooden stretcher. Traveled from the Pacific to the Atlantic in the back seat of a green Suburu. Threads waiting to be pulled. Remnant from twenty years ago. There is a beaver dam holding the water in place. Where's my fishing pole? This piece has a similar color pale

Fresh green growth comes in many hues. Bright blue sky is rare in the Pacific Northwest in comparison to Colorado or Eastern North Carolina. The abstraction has more to do with the color palette than the texture. A bit of black swipes for depth. Ripped away from its stretcher, I rolled it with others in the collection and traveled across the continent hoping that one day again, it would be hung on the wall. Hopes and dreams do come true. Twenty years later in the virtual worl

Countless trees surround the Georgia Strait from Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver, Canada. Travel by ferry to reach the Sunshine Coast Ferry terminal to Sechelt where music legend, Joni Mitchell says of Half-moon Bay, “LA is my workplace, but BC is my heartbeat.” To sit on the ferry, and visualize another upcoming hike in the rainforest, I value the enormity of anticipation. Countless times, I crossed that Strait to reach one of the most impressive forces of nature, the Paci

Our color theory professor at SCAD assigned us to paint a Beethoven Symphony. Our interpretation was to illustrate icons for instruments and define patterns in the melodies. In the same way, listening to jazz music, I'll move the paint around with color and gestures to define patterns detecting movement of the musical piece. This jazz series of paintings started in the early 1990's and continues to this day. One of my favorite ways to produce abstract paintings is alongside o

In the middle of creating the My Green Brain Series group of paintings, I found a technique of folding the canvas which created deep grooves in the canvas. The paint filled the grooves and a wispy dry brush created a contrast on the surface. The facet of a stone, I once saw in the atmosphere of the sky up top the Rocky Mountains while hiking up an 1000 foot elevation upon deep snow. Laying down to create a snow angel, I watched the faceted clouds roll by. This facet can not b

Both parents made pottery. When it came time to glaze with designs, they used the Sgraffito technique. In Italian it means "to scratch". Most of their pottery was scratched with repeating designs to reveal the clay color underneath. This acrylic landscape was painted in the same mannerism, I sgraffito-ed the top layer to reveal the green underneath. The only difference is that I did the scratches in an expressionistic way to create randomness, less repetition. The last disti

I displayed more than 100 landscapes, mostly green acrylic paint on stretched raw canvas, in my exhibition in Vancouver, Canada, entitled "My Green Brain" in 2002. When it came time to stretch the canvases for the exhibition, the overlapping edges need to be trimmed. Saving the strips of acrylic-ly painted canvas, I wove together the remnants from the 100 paintings. This piece of artwork is not only a reminder of the effort that it took to create and exhibit such a collection

The sky in the acrylic painting needed a brightening after 20 years. Whether it was the color of acrylic paint or my attitude that needed brightening, I didn't hold back and covered the upper portion. It added contrast clarifying from where I came to where I am headed. "2021 Add to 2002" My Green Brain Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada Acrylic paint on Raw Canvas 2002 Oil Paint on Sky 2021 Un-stretched Artist Lisa Bisbee 24"x24" B0124 DM or email for purchase information. Over th