Lisa Lightman

I started to make art in my mid-thirties. I took a few adult education classes. One class changed everything. Draw whatever you want, however you want. I leaned toward abstraction. It was liberating to make art that was generated by the myriad of emotions that floated on the surface of my life at that time.

How I make art has evolved slowly. The willingness to see colors and shapes in a landscape or on a kitchen counter, or feel a mood or emotion, all rendered through paints, pencils and other materials, are only a few of the infinite filters that land on the surface. I understand that each mark or color choice, or the final painting, is recognized as a moment in time not to be matched by any other moment in time.

My primary pull, as an artist, is to leave an emotional mark, an image or shape that is mysterious and curious, brings joy and beauty. I create art that generates, for me, a feeling of wonder and awe, not unlike life itself.

Hampshire College, BA
Tufts University, MA
San Francisco Center for the Book
Santa Fe Art Institute
Massachusetts College of Art
School of the Museum of Fine Arts
Rugg Road Paper and Printmaking

Gallery Representation
M a d e Gallery, Stinson Beach, 2012-2022
Reaves Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2008-2009
SF MOMA Artist Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2007-2020
Aspen International Art, Aspen, CO, 2004-2006
Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA, 2002-2004, 2006
Nason-Williams Contemporary Art Objects, Taos, NM 2000-2001
Gallery Zipp, Glorieta, NM, 2000-2001
Muse Image, Madrid, NM, 1999-2000
Elan Fine Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 1998-1999

Commercial Representation
Saatchi Art e-commerce site 2021
Cisco Home Design, September 2010
Suite Five Salon, 2009
SOMA Grand, May 2009
Vizcaya Design, 2009
Spaces, Staging and Design, 2008
Miriam’s Weaving Well, Santa Fe, NM, 2000-2001
The Store Different, Santa Fe, NM, 2000-2001

Solo Exhibitions
Octavia’s Haze, San Francisco, CA 2007
The Prudential, Sausalito, CA 2005
San Francisco Open Studios, 2002-2006, 2014, 2016
Vernon Street Open Studios, Somerville, MA 1994 and 1995

Group Exhibitions
Petaluma Art Center, 2021,2022
Gearbox Gallery, Oakland, CA 2018
Back to the Picture, Abstraction Show, November 2016
Pacific Art League, Faces and Figures, Honorable Mention, 2009
Slingshot Gallery, Berkeley, CA 2004
The Art Center at Fuller Lodge, Los Alamos, NM 1999 ...