Lisa Palombo, AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST

WRITTEN BY MARION E. ALTIERI | ARTWORK BY LISA PALOMBO, PHOTOS PROVIDED

Rhode Island native Lisa Palombo must’ve started painting in infancy: if not, how could she be a professional painter for 35 years? (At this writing, she looks like she’s only 35 now.)

She reports that her favorite, fun aunt, a first-grade teacher, saw something in her when Lisa was eight or nine. Growing up in a house full of academic over-achievers, Lisa was enrolled in Saturday lessons and summer art camps at the distinguished RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), arguably one of the most prestigious art schools in the world. Lisa’s RISD summers happened before children’s summer camps became commonplace; it would lead to her formal education there, years later. Sitting on the RISD beach near Providence, painting and drawing nature, Lisa Palombo fell in love. Her RISD summers gave her the tools she needed, at a tender age, to take in the world with her eyes –then to process it in her spirit and present it as art that feeds the entire being.

Since that first summer, she has taken her passion and vision, and determined always to give her art 110%.

Lisa muses, “I think most artists will tell you that as soon as they finish a piece, they can’t wait to start the next one, because they want to do better next time. And so the never-ending reach continues.”

An officially-licensed Secretariat artist, she reflects, “Secretariat reminds us to run our own races ...and when we witness perfection [such] as his race at the Belmont in 1973, well, we get a bit emotional. Many even say they cried when they saw Secretariat ...31 lengths ahead of [Twice a Prince] to cinch [sic] the Triple Crown...”

As an adult, Lisa graduated from RISD, with a diploma in Illustration. As she continued to develop her illustrating technique, she adopted a colorful, hyper-realism style. Deconstructing her process, she swung her pendulum the other way: “...Something inside me wanted to be more painterly. Instead of a hundred strokes, I wondered if I could achieve the same in 10.”

This intentional transformation into an Impressionist was challenging, but worth her efforts: “…Something inside me told me it was important for my artistic growth. I’m so glad I listened to my inner voice. I absolutely love painting plein air and impressionistically!”

Lisa’s art explodes with vibrant colors, motion and kinetic energy that leaps off the canvas. A feast for the eyes and the soul, her paintings are far-more than mere distractions: indeed, her works will convince you that Penny Chenery’s Tremendous Machine still walks the Earth…and runs the ovals, with power and authority.

LISA PALOMBO, AMERICAN IMPRESSIONIST, will be on-hand to meet-and-greet at the Opening Reception for her Secretariat show, at Spa Fine Art in Saratoga on Friday evening, August 4th. The public is cordially invited. Her Secretariat collection will be on display at Spa Fine Art through Labor Day. Spa Fine Art is located at 376 Broadway.