5 minute read
LISA MOTLEY
skillfully capturing life’s precious moments Lisa Motley
By BONNIE EISSLER
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Lisa Motley
Lisa Motley knew from an early age that she wanted to be an artist and, unlike many eight year olds who abandoned their ambitions to be an astronaut, a movie star, or a marine biologist, Lisa held on tightly to those childhood dreams. She has “drawn hundreds and hundreds of faces” for as long as she can remember, sketched and painted, studied and taught art for a lifetime.
Although she has explored all of the other artistic media, her favorites are watercolor and fabric dye on silk, both of which require a lot of skill and practice. “Watercolor is not forgiving and doesn’t allow for changes,” Lisa says, “and painting on silk is a long process that requires patience and persistence.
Lisa studied Fine Art and Business with an accounting concentration at Texas State University, a double focus that has allowed her to pursue an art career and manage her own art business. As a certified art teacher, only recently retired, Lisa has taught all ages, from three and four year olds to octogenarians. She taught private lessons from her studio and art classes in public and private schools.
She believes that everyone is an artist because creativity is an essential characteristic of our being, and we express our God-given creativity in many different ways. “Creativity is so important,” Lisa says, “especially during these chaotic times when so many people are reinventing their businesses and finding alternative ways to navigate unfamiliar territory.”
Her artwork has been exhibited at the United States Botanical Gardens Museum in Washington D.C., The Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi, and The Rockport Art Center. For many years, she participated in the Rockport Art Festival and her work has been represented by numerous galleries in south Texas.
For the 100th anniversary celebration of the United States National Parks in 2016, Lisa’s silk painting was chosen for the special exhibit at the U.S. Botanical Gardens Museum in Washington, D.C. The contest required portrayal an endangered tree or flower in one of the national parks. The goal of the exhibit was to educate people about the at risk trees and flowers, and to foster appreciation of the amazing diversity of plant life in the parks, which are truly national natural treasures of this country. “The painting is a gray lily, an endangered flower in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, that’s named after a famous botanist named Gray,” Lisa says. “It’s very colorful and not gray in color at all.”
For her artistic inspiration, Lisa paints what is closest to her heart. She started by painting portraits of her own family and has been painting family portraits for a large clientele for over 30 years. “My passion is drawing and painting precious moments, and these moments are usually captured in photographs that clients send to me,” Lisa says.
See LISA MOTLEY, Page 7
According to the client’s preference, she either draws the subject with graphite, or paints with watercolor.
Everyone has a story to tell and Lisa’s portraits are a perfect way to freeze those magical moments in time: senior quarterback at his last game, a girl barrel racing, kids on the first day of school, a high school graduation or a dad’s dance with his daughter at her wedding. Vacation memories are often the subject of Lisa’s paintings and drawings, and have included a couple on a camel during a trip to Egypt, a day at the beach in Hawaii, and a trip to Disney World. For her silk paintings, Lisa uses habotai silk, a shimmering fabric once used mostly for making silk kimono, that absorbs and captures the jacquard dyes beautifully, resulting in rich deep colors. “I take my own photos and draw them onto the silk,” Lisa says, “then steam in a steamer for an hour at 210 degrees to create a chemical reaction and set the dyes.”
The beliefs that Lisa had even as a child about the value of art have never left her. “Art is essential for everyone, it’s good for you, it’s motivating and raises self-esteem.” She is currently working on several projects, including a painting of a little girl hugging a goat. Photos courtesy Lisa MotLey.
FYI • Contact Lisa by email at motleyarts@yahoo.com to ask how to commission a painting and she will guide you through the process. Lisa is delighted to be one of the more than 50 artists represented at Art on 12, a gallery featuring local, regional and nationally known artists, voted “Best in Wimberley” for the fifth year in a row in 2020. See samples of Lisa’s artwork at lisamotleyart.com.
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