From a very young age, Lisa felt the need to define herself through colorful and poetic stories represented in her writings. In addition, she found an observable and interpretative voice of expression through photography and the creation of abstract paintings and whimsical drawings. In 1980 she began her professional artistic journey in the field of photography at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Since that time, she has received several degrees ranging from her B.A. in Spanish and Linguistics from Indiana University, a Masters in Counseling and Guidance and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Policy Making from the University of Texas Pan American. She has taught in several Valley school districts, been an Instructional Coach and also served as an Assistant Principal. In 2018 she retired from the field of education to pursue being a full-time artist.
Over the years her work has been displayed and sold in various art venues including Narciso Martinez Cultural Arts Center in San Benito, El Jardin del Arte in Edinburg, Beyond Arts Gallery and Art Nights in Harlingen, South Padre Island Convention Center’s Christmas Shows and Market Days, the 6th Annual Artrageous Fine Arts Show in Edinburg, Hope Foundation 2019, Juneteenth 2019 at the Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library, and the South Texas College Pecan Campus Art Gallery. In addition, Lisa is a member of the Laguna Madre Art League and has recently joined and displays her work at the Laguna Madre Art Gallery in Port Isabel. During her time as an educator, she frequently integrated core content areas and art thus, providing her students with enriched, creative learning experiences. Other art instructional opportunities have included workshop presentations to fellow teachers, art league members at the D’Arte Studio in Harlingen, as well as, Saturday art sessions for special needs children and parents at the Brownsville Children’s Museum.
Lisa specializes in producing work with a colorful vibrance. She enjoys capturing moments through photography, creating acrylic paintings and designing intricate cut paper designs. Her artwork is an extension of her love of life and provides an avenue for her to express and share her lived experiences with others. She states, “My goal as an artist is to captivate my viewer’s attention long enough so that they may perceive my thoughts and understand my heart. My paintings and works are invitations for my viewers to experience color through subtle nuances or bold, dramatic displays. The unique characteristics of each of my images are meant to inspire conversations, penetrate imaginations, and ultimately entice viewers to linger longer and experience my passion for art and creative expression.”
~ LIKI ~
Faith, Hope, and Love… The Journey Continues
Lisa Irby is a professional artist with an innate ability to see the world through multiple lenses. She specializes in producing colorful acrylic paintings and creating intricate cut paper designs that convey visual and emotional stories to her audiences. Her artwork is an extension of her personal beliefs, her passion for life, and her love for people. Her belief is that the imagination holds such possibilities, and when one’s imagination is cultivated, it gives rise to creative expression. Her work expresses and reveals this artistic conversation between colors and lines in their various forms and shapes. The mediums utilized to create her work consists of two distinct forms. The first style entails the use of acrylic paint applied to paper or canvas in layers or thinned out to a watercolor consistency. Her second form of art is similar to the production of stained-glass design. The intricately cut shapes and patterns made from multi-colored paper is glued to a black mat board thus allowing the vibrant, colorful paper to reveal its design. At first glance, with either style of art, the viewer sees the overall image, however, through closer examination and study of the piece underlying conversations emerge.
Her work is inspired by her faith and belief in God. The contextual representation of her creations are meaningfully connected to scripture or they derive their meaning from this journey called life. The intent of her work is meant to encourage people and share Christ’s love. For Lisa, art has its own language and possesses the ability to thread itself through the viewer on an emotional level. It is her ultimate hope that meaningful conversations will arise, spirits will be enlivened, and hearts will be connected at a deeper level.
~ LIKI ~
Fé, Esperanza y Amor…El Viaje Continua
Lisa Irby es una artista profesional con una habilidad para ver el mundo a través de puntos múltiples. Ella se especializa en producir piezas colorídas con pintura acrílica y en crear laboriosos diseños de papel cortado a mano que evocan historias visuales y emocionales a su audiencia. Su arte es una extensión de sus creencias personales, su pasión por la vida y su amor por la gente. Su creencia es que la imaginación maneja muchas posibilidades y cuando la imaginación de sí mismo está cultivada, la expresión creativa se eleva. Su trabajo expresa y revela una conversación artística entre colores y líneas en sus diversas formas y figuras. Los medios utilizados para su trabajo consisten de dos distintos en forma. El primero entalla el uso de pintura acrílica aplicada en capas o disuelta obteniendo una consistencia cerca a las acuarelas. Su segunda forma artística es similar a la reproducción del diseño en vidrio pero con papel. Las formas y patrones cortados de manera intrincada con papel multicolor son adheridos a un fondo negro, así permitiendo que el color vibrante revele su diseño. A primera vista, con cualquiera de las dos formas, el espectador ve la imagen completa, sin embargo, después de examinar con proximidad y estudio de la pieza, las conversaciones acerca de tal comienzan a emerger.
Su trabajo es inspirado por la fé y su creencia en Dios. La representación contextual de sus creaciones son conectadas a escrituras bíblicas o derivan del significado que tiene este viaje llamado vida. La intención de su trabajo es motivar a la gente en sí y también compartir el amor de Cristo. Para Lisa, el arte tiene su propio dialecto y posée la habilidad de emprenderse al espectador en un nivel emocional. Su mayor deseo es que emerjan conversaciones valiosas, que los espíritus revivan y que los corazones de la gente se conecten en un nivel más profundo.
~ LIKI ~
Image credits:
Sojourners ~ Stratified Dimensions, 2018
Acrylic Painting
Born to Be Free, 2021
Cut Paper Design
