Lysa Montwill
My childhood was based in Southern California in a small college town amid trees, artists, musicians, poets, and professors of the liberal arts.
My mother was a psychologist, later changing to Geology. She was sanguine in nature, upbeat and positive. She taught me there is more than what meets the eye - impressions below the impressions we meet, both in people and nature. My father was a design engineer. I learned from him to listen and observe. My work ethic mirrors his… a strong determination to usher a project from vision to actualization.
With a brief stint into formal education of painting and drawing it became apparent choosing my own path was far more conducive to how I function in learning and letting my unique voice emerge.
The two elements defining my work are of color and patterns. Color is an expression of feeling while patterns express interconnections. My art is my expression of what I feel on an organic level. With all the internal and external conflicts of life, my chosen focus is upon the co-existing of the indomitable human spirit and beauty of this world
In my mind Art lives as Communication. I believe we human beings have an inherent need to communicate. Each of us has a natural form of communication, whether verbally, through the language of our bodies, through sound, words, endless choices each of us selects as our primary mode of expression. Each foray into communication is about establishing connections to others. Individuality utilized to create common ground. To communicate is to step out of the realm of isolation into a world of community, be it two people or many. Through the medium of paint I communicate the deeper essence of who I am and what I believe in.
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