November 18, 2020 | St. Lucie Cultural Alliance | Member Spotlight – Lisa Jill Allison Gallery
Contributed by Dorothy Kamm
Member Spotlight – Lisa Jill Allison Art Gallery
Lisa Jill Allison creates paintings that defy categorization, which is exactly what she intends. After applying acrylic paint straight from the tube, she uses brushes, rollers, a palette knife, and her hands to manipulate the paint. It’s a very tactile process that results in works of art that are colorful and energetic, loose and lively. While visually pleasing, Lisa’s goal is to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.
“I think it’s amazing that you can take tubes of color and make something with them,” says Lisa. “It’s messy. I like it because it’s messy. We’re designed to play and to express ourselves, to create. It’s a way to feed our souls. Using paint straight from the tube is like raw emotion, and raw emotion is the true self.”
Sometimes the finished piece is evocative, such as her landscapes where horizontal bands of color suggest waterscapes and sunsets. Other times details such as heart-shaped hips and thighs create intrigue. Subjects include naturescapes, figurative, abstract, and a category she terms “just for fun” featuring children, adults, and animals staring in wonder with enlarged eyes. For Lisa, painting is a very intimate way of sharing what’s inside. Viewers respond emotionally and their reaction takes on a life of its own as they find joy amid the chaos.
A new category of paintings is “pet pawtraits.” Although the finished painting will look like a client’s pet, her goal is not a realistic reproduction. “Pet pawtraits are more like a caricature of the pet, where its personality comes through,” says Lisa. Capturing the essence of a pet is what she strives for as her goal. “It’s not just a flat painting but something that has life,” she adds.
Lisa offers customized paintings, too. “Even when a painting is created for a specific room, based on feedback from the client, everything clicks into place once hung on a wall,” says Lisa. The painting completes the room, adding something that seemed to be missing, prompting people to experience the beauty that surrounds them.
Lisa is a writer as well as an artist. Her book Lisa’s Little Secrets, filled with her poetry illustrated by her artwork, is available for purchase on her website. A copy can be checked out from the St. Lucie County Library as well. In December her children’s book C-mon Get Happy, a feel-good book for children, will be published.
Joining the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance allows Lisa to give back to the community and to other artists. She has been a full-time artist for 10 years and her art has been shown from Manhattan to Miami. As a member of the Cultural Alliance, she shares her marketing expertise and supports other artists by sharing her knowledge and expertise in the process. “Every person has something they can give to others,” says Lisa. “The St. Lucie Cultural Alliance offers memberships to people who aren’t artists but want to enrich their lives while assisting the artists. It’s about community and raising each other up.”
In early 2021 Lisa will be teaching a Sip and Paint workshop on the patio at the House of Seven Gables in Fort Pierce. Refer to the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance website for upcoming details.
To learn more about the St. Lucie Cultural Alliance and the benefits of membership, please visit ArtStLucie.org, email: info@artstlucie.org or call 772-462-2783.
Lisa Jill Allison’s gallery is located at 111 Orange Avenue in downtown Fort Pierce. To view Lisa’s artwork, visit www.lisajillallison.com or call 772-361-9488. Check out her Facebook page under “Lisa Jill Allison” for news, pictures of paintings, and her poetry.
