Lisabelle .

Hand Painted Portraits of people, pets and places.  Lisabelle is a recognized and awarded portrait artist with over twenty-two years of experience, dedication, and discipline in portrait painting and fine art.  My paintings lean towards traditional realism in portraits, landscapes, still life, floral painting and illustrative artworks. Many commissioned portraits and paintings are in private and corporate collections, from coast to coast.

Commission work is challenging and very rewarding.  This type of painting is an area in art, that might even be considered service like, in it's orientation.  Painting a landscape, still life or floral painting, along with portrait work in the past twenty-two years, gives a well rounded yet widely diverse area of experience, practice and study.  Displaying artworks in rural Michigan, in a farm belt region, and of course the Motor City, with the famous giant auto makers, which constitutes the demographics and generally, it's not a large art buying culture, especially thanks to economical disasters over the past years.  Sales of my paintings have been well above average with the above considerations taken into account.  Portrait work, with live demonstrations have garnered, Television media coverage, including a local talk show interview with The Bart Hawley Show.  Many, many newspaper articles,  and so many sincere accalaides from the budding young creative souls I've had the pleasure to instruct on a volunteer basis, in public schools.

I have had some unusual and lucrative opportunities, such as, in Maumee, Ohio while I was a resident artist at the Collingwood Art Center of Toledo, Ohio.  In a very upscale gourmet grocery store, family owned by Walter Churchill, the Son of the Famous General Walter Churchill, he invited several area artists to display and demonstrate art in his produce section of the store.  I did portraits in pastel and charcoal during the Christmas season 2008.  There were about twenty charcoal commissions, with so many happy recipients, children mostly, and from photos mostly, however, there were live sittings also, I get a natural high from giving my creativity to others and especially children.  Near the end of that spree, a wonderful message was left for me.  I returned the call, and met two of the kindest and most endearing people Jeri and Ven, who asked if I would paint their Grand Daughter Skyler.  They knew they could have had a $35. charcoal, for that is what most of the commissions I had been doing there were, I enjoy giving during the Christmas or Holiday season.  To my amazement they said to pick my price, no matter what it was.  That compliment was so deeply moving to me, and to this day, it inspires further , when so many other messages due to stresses within and without, are sometimes enough to relinquish the fire of creativity.   That was a portrait commission that became not one pastel but four, Jeri wanted a portrait for each of Skyler's Aunts and Uncles.

While a resident at the Collingwood Art Center, I had met Dr. Robert Brundage, an active board member, but that's not all.  He was a dedicated Environmentalist, involved knee deep in giving of himself to that cause and so many other life enhancing, community and worldwide charity and educational organizations.  We met and his friend Peter Van Schoek, asked me If I would paint a life size oil portrait of Robert Brundage.  Robert and I had wonderful conversations, he pointed out his love of nature, on a walk around the property of his alma mater Scott High School, there he explained the beneficial properties of the Ginko Biloba tree.  Sadly, he died from wounds sustained from being mugged by a sorrowful, misguided youth or "street kid".  His death and subsequent death were two years after the portrait had been completed.  I was in New Mexico on an extended trip, in my studio there, when the phone rang, and I was told of Dr. Robert's demise.  I was asked if I would grant my permission for the portrait I did of him, to be placed on the front cover of the Toledo Free Press.  Of course, it was, thus I sped back to Ohio, to attend his Memorial Service,  the Toledo Free Press had Robert's portrait in full color, for all of us mourners.  Sad recognition.

Since that time, there have been many paintings, and a couple of commissions.  I took a studio in downtown Toledo, Ohio.  I was asked to curate a new gallery, The Davis Gallery, where I was joined by a wonderful talented artist known as John Watson, together we put together three group shows, attended by the public in the Meet & Greet venue, that is sponsored by Toledo Area Arts Commission.  I enjoyed working with many other artists, hanging and writing promotional materials for each artist.  Seeing other artists sense of excitement in having their artworks hung in a beautiful gallery setting.  Just a slice of this artists life....