While working on this, I wrote down all kinds of words (as you can see on the paper hand rest in the video) that flooded my mind. Here is a list of the unedited stream of consciousness I jotted down between pencil strokes. These are unedited and reflect what I was feeling at the moment and not how I necessarily feel all of the time.

To be courageous in art, one should not censor the psyche

Don’t be afraid to expose the unseen

Art is part logic, part insanity

Some art requires courage to execute

Art reveals pain

Art speaks without verbalizing

Art is the unadorned soul

Art is menacing

Art reveals that which is not obvious

Art exposes the ineffable

It’s courageous to draw that which you fear

Art can be ugly

Art is 2% creativity, 98% intuitive impulse

Courage + Art= Penetrating

***
Thank you for watching.
~Lisa

Here’s the finished painting

The final Psychopomp painting

The final outcome of a painting is always a mystery. But that’s what makes the whole process continually fresh and exciting, even after so many years of tireless creative exploration.

~Lisa

I hope my demonstration helps to shed light on my process. These days, I do not over-plan an image. During my early years when I was an insecure artist just learning my craft I would plan out every facet and detail. But these days I know my voice and feel rather confident as a technician (though, one can never stop learning!). I draw from heart and soul and just let the art take over.  With that said, I do some anatomical studies (I am a self-proclaimed anatomy geek) and sometimes will draft a good drawing on tracing paper to trace down. But the majority of the art is done with a spontaneous vigor that allows sequences from within the depths of my psyche to help determine an image’s outcome. It is raw creativity that channels through my being without interference and it is the perfect method to employ while working on a project like Ghosts and Spirits Tarot! I’ve opened the chambers of my mind wide open and am enjoying meeting all the spirits milling about there.

~Lisa

Final drawing of the spirit Kuei

In a recent Facebook post of my pencil rendition of Shellycoat, several FB friends suggested I do a time lapse of the art progress; a sort of artist-at-work video. Having been a former art teacher who had engaged in demos routinely, I like the idea of sharing my process in this suggested format. I will definitely be looking into it. I’ll see if I can employ the talents of my husband as head camera man while I paint. haha. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, I did manage to document my painting of the spirit Kuei via multiple scan passes between paint washes. It wasn’t easy as I’m the type of painter who has a hard time stopping midstream once I get going. But somehow, I managed to pace myself in a manner that allowed me to let the image dry between scans.

You can see that I always start with a solid drawing of the figure before letting it morph through the painting process. Having worked with watercolor for 25 years, I paint fairly quickly now, but I never shy away from experimenting and/or taking risks. It’s all part of the fun and it’s what hopefully helps to keep my work fresh.

I slowly build up the detail

The closer I am to finishing, the less water I use

Now to finish up the textures with a dry brush

And here’s the finished piece:

~ Lisa

Connor with his conceptual drawings

As the summer vacation winds down, so will Connor’s long drawing sessions in the studio. I don’t teach Connor how to draw–he just sits at his desk and lets bustling creative ideas flood onto paper. He is insatiable with paper and pencil. Once in a blue moon he’ll ask me a question such as “Mom, how do you draw a woman (cyborg influence, of course)?” or “Mom, how do you show a spaceship from the underside as it stretches into a blackhole?”. I don’t know how much help I can be aside from an impromptu perspective and/or anatomy lesson. But he does ask me my opinion with each passing drawing.

"Robot City Ship" (Don't mind the typos!)

Given that I don’t draw or even think like Connor, pretty much everything he sketches seems complicated to me. As an artist, I don’t tackle subject matter that entails the contemplation of blasters, the cockpit, the shields, the exhaust system etc….as much as I love sci-fi movies et al, I don’t draw with a mechanical perspicacity the way Connor does. It’s fun to see him flourish in ways that are alien to me, literally.

And what does Connor want to be when he grows up?

“I want to be a robotic engineer, a graphic novelist and be the next George Lucas”. I wonder if there is a way for him to bundle his interests up into one creative vocation. If anyone knows, please tell me how I can steer Connor in the right direction.  For now, all I can offer him is my enthusiasm and support, something that he offers me in return and together, the energy in the studio is off the charts.

Stay tuned! ~Lisa

Connor at his desk while his sister admires his work

Mermaid picture by Kyra age 6

I have always loved going to museums and am lucky enough to live in an area where there is plenty to see. This past Spring we treated ourselves to an M.C. Escher show at the Boca Museum of Art. A few hours through the labyrinth of amazingness resulted in a season full of creative inspiration. There is something so penetrating about seeing art in person. In my opinion, the visual sensation of viewing originals has yet to be captured in print or virtual media. In my own home, I myself am not a huge fan of prints. I prefer to hang actual drawings and paintings when possible (though I have some treasured signed prints from friends, of course). Perhaps it’s the experience of interacting with art face to face. I think original artwork has its own energy, imprints of the artist’s soulful touch that exudes from an aura of magical energy. Anyone who has seen original artwork in a museum and/or gallery knows what I’m talking about. That is why these institutions remain timeless in a world constantly in flux. A virtual tour of a museum cannot touch the experience of being there.

This past weekend, we went to see a wonderful exhibit at Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach called “Dinotopia: The Fantastical Art of James Gurney”. I first saw and actually met the artist back in the 80s at a Boskone sci-fi/fantasy convention (my first!). He was exhibiting his first Dinotopia paintings (I don’t think he had sold the book at that juncture). As an eager art student barely in my 20s, I remember feeling my jaw literally drop when I first eyed his elaborately detailed scenes. He stole the show–a modern day N.C Wyeth;  an incredibly gifted artist who was barely in his 30s at the time. I was mesmerized and knew that this was a master on the threshold of worldwide fame. I think everyone sensed this about James Gurney and everyone was right!

Zoom forward to 2010–my second encounter was no less dazzling and in fact I felt a deeper sense of awe as I tried to digest all the detail-packed paintings that comprised the Dinotopia series. The show was one of the best I’ve ever seen. The ability to look at the rich colors and detail in person was transforming. For a little while, my family and I felt like we were walking through Dinotopia and it was an exhilarating place to be.

After spending hours through the Dinotopia wing, we did go through the rest of the museum. For some reason, while we were perusing the George and Valerie Delacort Gallery I felt compelled to whip out my pocket-sized sketchbook to doodle eyes from works of the masters. I was looking into my own eyes as I studied the nuance that swept through these important windows to the soul. I quickly sketched little studies with pen. The process helped me to connect with the image in a deep way–it was as though the people portrayed in the paintings were communicating with me. In between, I wrote down quotes that the museum has tastefully displayed between exhibits. One of my favorite quotes was: “Art seems to me to be above all a state of the soul.”~Marc Chagall

~ Lisa

Here is another painting for Ghosts & Spirits Tarot. This is a water spirit who is a shapeshifting seducer. He offers a cool drink and a splash in the refreshing water. It felt great to paint this. Here’s an abbreviated journey through the painting process.

The finished watercolor painting

Some of my fans, friends and colleagues have expressed interest in me doing an art instruction book. Having been an art college teacher for several years (before settling into full time studio life), I’ve toyed around with the idea. It wasn’t until a recent lunch date with my old college buddy Pam (who is a charismatic high school art teacher) that I realized how exciting a project like this could be.  So after our riveting chat, I am giving the idea some serious consideration. I’ve always loved to teach–I love sharing my techniques and enthusiasm for the drawing and painting process with others. I hope this has been obvious on my blog, facebook and twitter pages. Creating a helpful art book is shaping up to be my next venture. What do you think?

*** In other news ***

Here’s Kyra painting animals. Recently, Kyra sent a picture to one of her favorite artists, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. Much to her delight, Stephanie posted her “Stephanie with Elephant” picture in her recent SF Zoo blog post.  This, of course, is a big deal to an aspiring 6 year old artist. Hmmm, I wonder how much this kind of validation from a professional artist can affect a young child–I suspect Kyra will be painting pictures for a long time. Thank you, Stephanie. It meant the world to Kyra.

~Lisa

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot manuscript

Ghosts & Spirits Tarot image gallery

I just finished the manuscript along with a gallery of images. I have about 25 paintings left to do, having relegated some of the most challenging pieces until the time felt right. I honestly believe you cannot force art, it must surface when it’s ready. This is how I’ve executed this body of work. The ghosts and spirits summon me to paint when they are good and ready to manifest onto the paper.

Here’s an example of a piece that took on a life of its own. The colors, the roots, the details were primarily improvised as I went. During these more spontaneous sessions, hidden creatures make themselves known by peeping through bark, trees, rocks, skies and wherever they choose to appear.

King of Pentacles - Ankou (finished painting)

Another milestone has been the completion of 46 custom soul drawing orders. I began offering them during the 2009 holiday season, and they took off from there. I didn’t expect such an outpouring of enthusiasm (and orders!). I finally had to shut down the custom drawing shop for the summer so that I could focus on completing Ghosts & Spirits Tarot. I loved creating these works and the recipients of the drawings were gracious, grateful and downright sweet. I felt I formed an actual bond with many of my custom drawing customers (many who are now friends on facebook and people I have frequent exchanges with) — as they were extensions of the soul based on keywords that they provided for me. These drawings helped me to grow as an artist in many unexpected ways and helped me connect with those who appreciate my work. Symbiosis at its best!

Thank you to everyone who ordered a drawing from me. I plan to reopen the shop for pre-holiday orders in October.

Other things coming up:
- Late summer Newsletter containing special offers and a giveaway
- Revamped website store
- Possible Etsy shop
- And a Ghosts & Spirits Tarot website!

Oh, and for those of you who have been wondering, the piano playing is going great. I’m working on Meditation for Thais by Massenet. I’ve learned the piece, now to fine tune and bring it to mellifluous perfection. I may post a video on youtube of my playing when I feel ready to “perform”.

Lisa practicing Massenet, Meditation from Thais

I hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!

~ Lisa

Kyra playing the piano.

When is the last time you heard a song that transported you back to a book you were reading, or a romance you were experiencing or a painting that you were working on? For me, music awakens the senses in ways that deliver immediate imagery.  I have always drawn and painted to music. I can almost document my art and projects using my CDs as reference points. For example, I remember painting early college works to the music of the Moody Blues– brush strokes flowing with Justin Hayward’s smooth vocals. I can remember sketching dancing goddesses to Celtic music in between the pop sounds of Liz Phair, Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan etc.. And like many artists who love sci-fi and fantasy, I had my “Holst: The Planets” period… and who didn’t gorge on Enya for a while?

Asparas & Gandharvas

Music has accompanied me through many projects along the way. Every time I hear Debussy I think back on the glorious time I had painting my Celestial Goddesses book—the music from the man who was tied to 19th century impressionism coincided nicely with the flowing images that comprised that particular body of work.  Mozart’s Concertos accompanied me through a challenging Master of Arts program—yes, I did listen to Chopin, Ravel and Mozart during grad studies and The Animals Divine Tarot. I give those great composers credit for making my brain work overtime! I don’t know if Mozart makes a person smarter, but it certainly made me more efficient.

I have to admit that Rock & Roll, the Blues, Soul, and Folk  were always interspersed between my rendezvous with classical. I love a good guitar lick as much as the next gal and I even had a soundtrack phase while working in production. But lately I’m back to standard classical. For me, working on ghosts has coincided with my deep reverence for music that has stood the test of time and carried me through different chapters of my life. Right now, my Pandora.com (online music) selections include Scriabin, Faure, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and more. The romantic period (1825-1900) is particularly emotional and moody with elements of the supernatural revealing itself between measures. This period is packed with magical renderings of art and music alike. And such a raw exposition of the human condition is sure to inspire intrepid artists like myself. I can feel the ghosts and spirits transferring themselves from music to paintbrush.

Many of the paintings I’ve worked on for Ghosts & Spirits include themes that are tied to music in one form or another including the ballet “Giselle”, Undine, woodland spirits, the Undead, journeys to the underworld and what about Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman? It wasn’t hard to come up with ideas for this project–the spirits have been with me all along through their participation in music!

The Undine

Giselle

Rübezahl

And the more I listen to the great composers the more I think about art. To me, art and music are close cousins. This has certainly been reinforced to me through my friendship with my daughter’s music teacher, Sivabruntha (she plays a mean rendition of La Danse Macabre!). Over the last year, we’ve talked about our respective art forms, and have both discovered that the two disciplines are more aligned than one might initially think. Art and Music both entail practice, discipline, and soulful expression. It’s not enough just to be a good technician, one must invest soul in the delivery in order to make it come alive in a unique way. So much about music has been inspired by literature and art and so much of literature and art has been inspired by music.

Arnold Böcklin's Isle of the Dead

One feeds the other.. Just think of Böcklin’s painting Isle of the Dead, which subsequently inspired Rachmaninov’s masterpiece circa 1908 of the same title. Not only do the music lessons nurture my daughter (who takes back to back violin/piano), they have awakened my own passion for studying and playing music again.

And though I regret tossing sonatinas aside in a fit of adolescent rock & roll rebellion–  I never forgot about them, nor did I ever really stop playing or learning. So as I move towards the final creative stages of Ghosts & Spirits Tarot, I’m beginning my piano journey anew, almost 30 years later! It is now my goal to try and practice an hour or two a day (usually at night after all else is done–it’s my dessert hour!). How am I benefiting from this addition to an already hectic schedule? I’m feeling more connected with my internal visual insights–it’s like setting the stage for the next day’s creative outpouring and it’s certainly calming and satisfying to the soul. It is also opening the channels for further ghost and spirits exploration. When I’m playing music, I can feel these ethereal beings dancing through my mind!

Chopin is watching!

First pieces on the learning block: Chopin Nocturne op 9 no 2 (okay, I’ve been playing this one on and off for years, but it’s time to polish it to perfection), and Massenet’s Meditation from Thais for solo piano (thank you for suggesting this one, Sivabruntha!), one of my favorites. I hope to finish up Ghosts & Spirits and master those piano pieces by the end of summer–one discipline feeding another, right? And in the process, I’m forging wonderful musical memories from a particularly enlightening period of my life.
Do you think I can do it? Stay tuned.

To see a short video on Facebook of Kyra playing at her recital, CLICK HERE.

~Lisa

Here I am with a foolish young heart (and thin figure!). This is 1995 while working on my first tarot deck: the Shapeshifter Tarot

This is the painting that determined my artistic path. The Sorceress was the sample I painted before landing my first tarot contract with Llewellyn Publications.

Here's a Shapeshifter portrait I did for 60's rock icon, Donovan. I flew to San Francisco and presented the framed painting to him in person at a 1997 Whole Life Expo (my apologies for the poor photo quality--I know I have more somewhere).

Here I am in 1998 at an Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale graduation. At the time I was working on Celtic Dragon Tarot, I was also earning a degree in Computer Animation (very new at the time). I face-mapped the Shapeshifter Tarot images on 3D runes and had them spin around in space. No one ever saw anything like that before and it earned me the top prize in my graduating class (and a subsequent job as a conceptual designer and later, college teacher).

Here's my studio. On the wall is a framed Celtic Dragon Tarot press sheet. As my biggest seller, it holds a place of honor in my workspace.

After Celtic Dragon Tarot, my book Celestial Goddesses was published. I met fabulous people along the way, including my dear friend Pam (professional singer/art educator extraordinaire). This was taken during the Spring of 2002.

I also met my future husband at the one and only Celestial Goddesses book signing. It was destiny!

During the past 15 years, I've nurtured an extraordinary friendship with the brilliant and soulful Kris Waldherr.

While I was earning my Masters Degree in Interdisplinary Studies, Animals Divine Tarot was published. It earned a COVR award the following year (2006).

After Animals Divine Tarot, there was Fantastical Creatures Tarot published by US Games. Here I am at a 2007 INATS East signing/reading. I was busy!

While working on tarot decks and books, I had kids! Here I am with my artistic son Connor in 2009.

Here's Kyra in the studio in (early 2009?). My kids love to draw too!

Here's a bookcover-in-progress I did last year.

I also had a 10 year stint as a Collectible Card Game artist, but after over 100 images I retired from the industry.

I also studied martial arts and earned my Black Belt in TKD as a means of getting healthy and feeling more balanced while in the studio. It's easy to neglect oneself when one is so consumed by one's artistic passions! (2008)

I loved writing this book!

Here's a framed press sheet of The Fairy Tale Tarot that hung at a local gallery in 2009.

Here I am at work in the studio. I use the TP for painting--just in case you were confused. (2010)

Here's what I'm working on now...

and here's what I'll be working on next.

It has been a wonderful journey so far. I can honestly say that I feel a deep sense of gratitude for my life. Yes, I did make things happen, but I also feel I’m a blessed person to be able to live my passion and know who I am. Who knows what will be? But for now, I’m perfectly content with the here and now. But sometimes it’s good to reflect back and take pause. I don’t take anything for granted!

~ Lisa