Lisa McShane “Fluid Reflection” at SMITH & VALLEE GALLERY

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My paintings tend to be a map of my life and my thinking, and these are what I spent my time doing during an odd time in our history.

My last show opened March 7, 2020. For many of us that was the last time we were together indoors in a large group. I treasure those memories.

Within two weeks of that opening we were under a Stay Home order to reduce the spread of Covid and in early April I began to mail out drawings, a poem, and a note to friends, family, people I wanted to thank. I sent out over 200 drawings. The Pandemic Drawing Project brought me joy and took all the creativity I had during that period.

Except for one painting, this show was created entirely in 2021. Painting during the pandemic – like a lot of things – was challenging. For me the pandemic combined with the election, the lies about vote fraud, the attack on our democracy – it was hard to turn away from the relentlessly bad and strange news. So I focused on health, family, friends, and witnessed as history unfolded around us.

Here’s how I found my way back to my work.

My studio is on Samish Island on the coast of Washington State and the Skagit Land Trust purchased a beach on Padilla Bay near my house. I started going there nearly every day at the end of my run or walk, to see what was up with the water and the sky that day. Then I bought muck boots and started to venture out onto the tidelands to have a better view of the water flowing over sand and rocks. I’m especially interested in reflections and when I’m ankle deep in water I can see more, and more interesting, reflections. Especially sky and cloud reflections.

 

This show began with muck boots, standing ankle deep in salt water, watching the patterns of water and ripples of fluid reflections. It brought me joy and hope.

Lisa McShane

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Lisa McShane "January 6, 2021", Oil on Linen on Wood Panel, 24” x 40”, 2021

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Lisa McShane "Beach", Oil on Linen on Aluminum, 38” x 54.25” , 2021

Lisa McShane "Green Lake" Oil on Linen, 36” x 36”, 2021

Lisa McShane"Green Lake" Oil on Linen, 36” x 36”, 2021

About the artist

Lisa uses layers of oil paint and glazing to capture deep waters, the pattern of waves on wet sand, and the eroded hills of the Pacific Northwest. Her paintings are abstracted, graphic, and focused on light and land and water.

In 2015 she was the Artist in Residence at Petrified Forest National Park and in 2017 was the Artist in Residence at Grand Canyon-Parshant National Monument. One of her paintings, The Sun Sets on the Slope of the Horse Heaven Hills, was on exhibit in the American Embassy in Yemen for several years and Mountains at Dusk is in the collection of the Washington State Governor's Mansion in Olympia, Washington.

Lisa’s studio is on 15 acres of forest on Samish Island. She’s represented by Smith and Vallee Gallery in Edison, WA.

Lisa McShane

"FLUID REFLECTION"

October 1, 2021 - October 31, 2021

SMITH & VALEE GALLERY

Edison, Washington

Gallery 2sm

Framing Specifications

121AH05

METRO FLOATING FRAME

Deep Floating Profile: 124
Type: floating frame for 1-1/2" deep painting
Wood & Finish:  ash frame with pickled white finish
Purchasing Option: unjoined frame cut to size with wedges
Framing Advice: Joining Wood Frames with wedges
Framing Advice: Fitting Floating Frames