Calusa Gallery

Lisa Joyce Hill

I have been drawn to the creation of art since I was a young girl in the 1950's. My mother began to study the American and French Impressionists in correlation to painting classes that she was attending. She copied two paintings in the process of this class......a Gaugain and a Modigliani. They were wonderfully done and I was inspired by the paint and the mixing of the colors. As she studied, I followed along and by the time I was about nine years old, I could recognize the work of the major impressionists. I dreamed of becoming an artist and my family encouraged me to follow that dream. In High School I was among a small group of budding artists, entering local competitions and encouraging each other with critiques. I later attended Santa Barbara Art Institue, which shared the campus of Brooks School of Photography. At this time I was able to study under Ray Strong who was one of the original California Plein Air/Tonalist artists. It was through Ray Strong that I learned to love painting. Walking over the hills behind Santa Barbara with fellow students and Mr. Strong, I learned to not only see the world around me, but also to interpret it through my own vision. I married and moved to southwestern Oregon. Here, I have found endless inspiration. The ocean beaches, rivers and pastoral landscape give me unlimited material for my work.

Evening Calm