Lisa Thornton Whittaker

Welcome to the Artists Blog

When did you first become interested in art?

Like most artists I have enjoyed art from a very young age. As a child I was given the liberty to explore many mediums… as long as the medium could be easily cleaned out of the carpet.

What style of art do you use most?

My style has changed a great deal over the past six years. I am a licensed architect and so several years ago when I worked at an architectural firm my paintings were very rectilinear… very architectural. I left the professional world when I became a mother and my work as become more fluid and organic. I think my work is heavily affected by whatever is the greatest influence in my life at the time.

Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?

I am most drawn to abstracts. I feel driven to convey energy, movement and animation to a painting. I like paintings that vibrate, roll, jump and sail. I don’t set out with the idea to create “an abstract” but many times inevitably that is what I produce, as if by compulsion. It’s like scratching a brightly colored itch. I have to exercise a great deal of restraint when painting a “realistic” painting so that through the process it doesn’t take on a life of its own. However I believe this, somehow, helps me become more accomplished when I paint abstract again.

What medium do you use?

I prefer oils on pre-stretched canvas. I will sometimes use acrylic paint, however, if I believe it will better suit the individual painting.

What made you choose that medium?

I’m too lazy to make my own frames and stretch the canvas myself, to be perfectly honest! Just don’t care to do it. I like oils for the richness of color and for the broad range of drying times based on whatever else I use with the paint.

Do your ideas come from life or imagination?

Almost always my ideas are based on a real life muse, either objects or feelings. After that the painting takes on a life of its own. The end result is more a product of my process than it is a true representation - or at least this is the case with my abstracts.

How do you choose your images and colours?

The image or subject is anything that grabs my attention for whatever random reason. The colors seem to take on their own life as I paint. Inevitably my works are always very bright almost to the point of being garish.

Who is your favourite artist?

Ryan McGinness, Georgia O’Keeffe, Liubov’ Sergeevna Popova, Mario de Ferrante, Giacomo Balla, Lyonel Feininger,

What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?

right now it is Snap Quiver

How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?

Depends on the size. Most won’t take longer than a few weeks, I lose interest if it takes longer.

How well do you take criticism?

If it comes from people that I know want to see me improve or can offer suggestions of what my paintings lack or how they are not accomplishing what I hope to convey - I take it quite well.

What do you do to overcome a ‘block’?

Muscle through a painting or pursue something I find more interesting. All my paintings go through an ugly stage where I can’t stand to look at them. It is just something that must be dealt with.

How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?

Something is finished when I’m tired of working with it… or perhaps they are nevere really “finished” but they are definitely “done!”

Have you had exhibits in galleries?

Alas, no. Not unless you count in college when a large group of students put a rented space we secured on the list of galleries for our city’s weekly gallery hop.

Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?

Anybody who will take me.

What are your plans for the future?

Right now my main priority is to raise my two small children. As they become more independent (and are in school!) I will become more aggressive in marketing myself and devote more time to painting.

What advice would you give new artists?

Talent is a good first step, but it takes nearly as much time marketing as it takes in actual production to get anywhere beyond the level of a hobbyist.

Thank you very much for allowing us this interview Lisa! I wish you ALL the luck in the future