Lisa Hannaford

I live on Georgian Bay, known for the rugged beauty of its wind swept trees, rocky shores and vistas of sky and water. It has inspired artists for generations. The challenge is capturing this wild beauty with my own unique style and colour. Often an underpainting of pinks and oranges allows these colours to shine through the layers. This provides visual excitement to the rocks or serves as a punch of complementary colour to the blues of the sky and water.

My abstracts have stemmed from exploring mixed media on paper in a small 3”x5” format that has increased in size as my confidence grew. To me, they are a metaphor of life... learning to let go, trust one’s self and take chances. I love the “pentimento” aspect of working in layers. Much of my abstract work is built upon shapes/symbols such as hearts, ovals and text from quotes that I have loved over the years. Some layers have collages from needlework books, sheet music or words from magazines that might add an extra depth of meaning to my work.

I am surrounded by a landscape of undulating hills and fields. The vistas and colours that I see constantly delighting my eyes. I love seeing how the seasons and the light change the landscape. To me, landscape is rhythm and pattern. This is often where I will start to use a palette knife along with my brush work to bring in the movement and texture that I see.

Early on I studied Art History at University and the decorative arts at Sotheby’s and this appreciation of the lineage of Still Life and love of objects is expressed in my Still Life paintings. My favourite artists have been Matisse and Bonnard...and I love how they painted some of their favourite things and interiors. Some arrangements are set up with favourite objects and others are “real” still lives...inspired by an actual dinner party or a “moment” in a kitchen when cooking with friends.

If there is anything that has captured my heart and soul over the years it is water...whether it is a river, pond or ocean...and skies....from the ultramarine of a sunny day to the mauve greys of a turbulent sky. From Caribbean-like aquas to ochre greens of the rocks beneath the surface. I love the play of light on the water, the ever changing colours and patterns of clouds and playing with different horizon lines.

Gardens are a dance of colour and shapes. I see them as an ever changing 3 dimensional canvas that I then express in a two dimensional way. Painting on location is exhilarating...a highlight was painting in Monet’s garden. With commissions, I often work from photographs and memory to recreate the feelings that the garden has inspired.