Lisa McShane Art

Arizona Skies. 2015. Oil on Linen Panel. 20" x 30". SOLD. This is the first painting finished following my Art Residency at Petrified Forest National Park. This was the first one I started while there and it was painted at my great outdoor studio on the patio at the Painted Desert Inn. The light was exceptional. The sand and grass in the paint film is a testament to the history of the place and my time there. Since it took more than a week to finish, visitors were puzzled that the place I was painting wasn't the place I was looking at. But the sky was. And great news: the painting sold today. More great news: I was honored to be the Featured Artist on Artwork Archive's site.  You can click here to see . Although, I'm it for a week and if you miss that window it'll be another artist. Also good. I really value my connection with Artwork Archive. This is the site - after lots of experimenting - that I use to catalog and store my painting info. I've ...

New studio on Samish Island in Skagit County  For the last year or so I've been casually looking around for a new studio space. My goal was a building where I could create much larger paintings with room to store my work and room to stretch and frame canvas and to cut wood. In addition to that I had a wish list: trees, a small cabin and (although I couldn't afford it) a water view. I shared that list with a friend, Heather Othmer, a realtor in Bellingham. Late July Heather emailed me a photo of property with trees and a cabin and after some delay, we all drove to Samish Island on a Saturday to take a look. When I saw the shop (the middle of the 3 buildings - the cabin is behind the trees - I could picture it as a studio. The next day my husband and I drove back to look again and on Monday we made an offer. It's just under 14 acres - nearly all trees and 12 of those acres are in a wildlife conservation easement with the Skagit Land Trust for bird habitat. There'...

Lummi Island || Smoke. Oil on Linen. 15" x 15" This summer the Pacific Northwest was on fire. It started early in July with more than a hundred fires in British Columbia. By July 4th the smoke started rolling in and by July 6th our air was thick with it. The sky was yellow. This painting is based on what I saw looking north from the Lummi Island Ferry as we headed home on July 4th.

Painting at the Painted Desert Inn. North light - great spot. Day 8 at the Petrified Forest National Park. We've settled into a great routine here: up at 5:30 for a long hike and/or run, then I spend the afternoon painting in the shade at the Painted Desert Inn across the road. At 6:30 or so we carry chairs up to the top of a nearby hill to watch the sun set. We love this. We're staying at an adobe casita - a delightful cabin across from the historic Painted Desert Inn. After sunset, when the rangers chase the last visitors from the park and lock the gates behind them, we are the only people in the park. It's hard to imagine a better Art Residency.

Columbia and Contrails. 2015, Oil on Linen. 18" x 36".  Still interested in contrails and the way they reflect light and shadow. This is the Columbia Gorge, one of my favorite areas in the northwest.

This winter I applied for and was accepted into the Artist-in-Residence program at Petrified Forest National Park. This is a program administered by the National Parks in more than 50 parks, including some of the most iconic ones: Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, Zion, Glacier. It's competitive - more than 60 artists applied to Petrified Forest and 15 were accepted. There are sculptors, a cellist, an installation artist, photographers and me, the sole painter. Most of the programs provide housing, often in historic cabins. You can find more information about the National Parks program here. This is the charming historic casita I'll be staying in. I've been preparing my supplies for a month: building linen covered panels (8 at 20"x30" plus a large stack of small panels) and ordering and organizing paints, pencils, papers, brushes, the works. My husband is going with me (he's a geologist) so we'll camp and hike after the 2-week residency. That...

'The Day the Clouds Blew Through'. Oil on Linen. 30" x 60". My solo show at the Lucia Douglas Gallery went well. Many thanks to all who attended! I was overwhelmed by the support and sales and so glad to see you all. I'm back to stretching large hunks of linen onto frames and priming all of it. The work begins anew.