Paint Party Friday: Week 8, Year 2 Check In Featured Artist: Lisa Wright

image courtesy of Lisa Wright

Welcome to Week 8 of Paint Party Friday (Year 2) and to the next edition of our Featured Artist Series! (Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Please click here for details!) This week we are featuring an artist from the UK who has been providing us with amazing eye candy and unbelievable inspiration** since the very first week of PPF. Please welcome Lisa Wright aka WrightStuff!

1) Please tell us a bit about your personal history with painting. (When did you start painting? How has your painting evolved since you first started?) 
When I was a little girl I loved to paint. I was always illustrating stories and creating little characters. As I grew into my teens I kept it up, but ironically it was the art education system that knocked the enthusiasm out of me. It was too much about passing exams and not enough about play and experimentation. I stopped enjoying it when forced to go down the same route week in, week out.

After that I gradually drifted away and my watercolours sat unloved in a box slowing drying up and turning to dust. Then, one day a couple of years ago, not long after I started my blog I picked them up again. I had a desire to illustrate my blog post with my own work and quite frankly I haven’t looked back since.

I signed up for online courses, joined art challenges, spent a fortune on supplies and became totally and utterly hooked! I know it sounds corny but it was a pivotal moment in my life – I found the part of me that was missing.

image courtesy of Lisa Wright

2) What are your favorite techniques, media, and tools to use in creating your paintings?  I absolutely love drawing and painting over an already existing background – whether it’s a book page, a collage or just a spread of colours. Layers fascinate me. This technique helps me stay loose too – as you’re never going to get perfection. It’s more about suggesting, more abstract. 

In terms of materials, I would say my prismacolor pencils, acrylics and oil pastels are always closest to me. I get very excited by blending! I am a mixed media girl at heart though and can never resist sticking seeing what happens if I add a bit of this and that to my pieces. The Kingfisher has a watercolour background, a mixture of Prismacolor and Inktense on his feathers and then an extra layer or two added in PhotoShop.

image courtesy of Lisa Wright

3) What is your favorite thing to paint? Why?  The most influential lessons I took came from Suzi Blu who showed me that actually I can paint faces and portraits have become my greatest love. I am trying to move away from them a little now as I almost hide behind them. I need to keep pushing myself. A little bird has been twittering away at my subconscious for a while to look at my feathered friends for inspiration – so that’s exactly what I did for the piece I created for this post.

4) What is your proudest painting moment and/or greatest painting achievement so far?  It’s when people have left comments on my art saying ‘you inspire me’. Wow – that really gets you in the heart. It took me a long time to believe what they were saying, but in the end it is what finally spurred me into opening my creative business – The Wright Brain Stuff. I firmly believe that without this supportive community there is no way I would be where I am now and I want to share that with others too. It’s the comments and love that shines through from this art tribe that kick-start my Muse every day.

I want to build a tribe through my course that can take flight with the inspiration and lessons I provide into their art and writing and soar – you’d best watch out in May because you might get hit by one of us zooming through the air!

image courtesy of Lisa Wright

5) What's next in your painting future? 

Well, I was thinking about a show at The Tate Modern – you’ve got to think big after all! One thing I’ve learned is that you have to have ambition or you won’t move yourself forward. Then you back up those dreams with a clearly defined set of goals. Launching my creative business is one step towards the place I wish to be. I’m dreaming of packed courses, art retreats, a book (or maybe even two!) and… you never know… one day… a show at the Tate Modern! Right now though, it’s running this first course.

** We also wanted to mention that Lisa has started a very fun, unbelievably motivational, extremely messy, and surprisingly therapeutic book club for creative souls!  (Kristin has joined and is having a blast!)

How PPF has influenced me? (I added this question in because I fear that Kristin and Eva would be too modest to suggest it!) (LOL Thanks Lisa - you were right!) 

I’m proud to say I’ve joined nearly every party since launch! For me, my tribe is a very important aspect of my inspiration. Sharing in each other’s work every week, learning from others and following their artistic journeys is artful soul food of the best kind! Thank you Eva and Kristin!

Thank you, Lisa!  Where can PPFers find out more about your exciting adventures?

You can find me all over the place.

Here’s my regular blog where I post my PPF entries every week and chat about creativity and life in general. You’ll find Twitter and Pinterest links from there too.

http://www.all-the-wright-stuff.blogspot.co.uk/

Here’s my new Creative Business blog/site where you can find out about my eCourse and my Book Group and read more blog posts. What can I say… I like to write…

http://thewrightbrainstuff.blogspot.co.uk/

It would also make me very happy if you Liked my Facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wright-Brain-Stuff/283410421739214

**Would you like to be a PPF Featured Artist? Click here for details!**

What another busy and vibrant party last week at PPF! Over 100 painters and partyers - Wow! And so many wonderful paintings - Awesome! Now, here is our check-in for this week's party:

Please make sure to use your post URL address NOT your blog home page URL address as there are many late visitors who get confused as to which post is for PPF when they arrive (after Friday) at your website. If you are unfamiliar with Mr. Linky, an explanation of how this tool works can be found on Week 1 and Week 2 Check-Ins.

Have a great week filled with fun, painting and partying everyone!