Meet Lisa Tenney

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Tenney.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I discovered art when I was a new mom, where so much was demanded of me and there was much more solitude built into my days, helping me discover this whole new world of visual art. As our family grew, I let my curiosity be my guide. I read everything I could and took a few classes. Eventually, I had the privilege of teaching art at a private school. This gave a purpose, a budget, and space to allow my curiosity and desire to “play” with many mediums to explore to my heart’s content and to share the joy and delight of art with others.

Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward… Leonardo da Vinci

While I love flying, I could replace the word “flight” with art. For me, art and the creative endeavor are things that I have tasted of and cannot help but return to time and again. They connect me to joy, love, curiosity, passion, pain, and mystery. When words fail me, I turn to paper, paint, glue, and more to express and discover my heart and soul.

Please tell us about your art.
My first foray into focused creating was calligraphy. I wanted to have inspiring words on our walls. From this my art evolved: calligraphy melted into watercolor, watercolor inspired silk painting, and then a flooded home caused me to replace our carpet with painted concrete floors which very indirectly led me to acrylic painting.

My primary medium has been acrylic painting for the past 16 years or so. For the past 5 years I have been adding the twist of collage. My recent collage pieces incorporate torn pages from magazines and catalogues to create the look of a mosaic. In 2015 I began a series of trees created in this style and am continuing to explore large-scale pieces representing their size, personality, and architecture. My favorite tree piece so far is based on the trees at Baldwin Park in Midtown Houston. This little gem of a park is an oak tree haven! The triptych piece is named Beloved (you can find this word hidden in the torn papers) and shows the structure/architecture of the trees without leaves. (Artistic license since these are live oak trees and therefore evergreen!)

At some point during my “learning to art” I came to desire to speak a language of vision. I desired to communicate that place where the spiritual and the natural share the same space. Where something quite indescribable breaks into the ordinary moments and places of time and space with an eternal quality. Part of my learning to speak this language involved taking a two-year course to become a spiritual director. This helped me listen to my own soul more deeply as well as helping me to listen to and companion other souls into that space beyond words.

What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
There are a few challenges. One is a wonderful thing really: more than ever, people are being encouraged to follow their creative dreams. I celebrate this! But it does mean there are more artists selling beautiful and thoughtful and thought-provoking art. Additionally, for a 2-d artist, it is a huge challenge to compete with printed art that is commercially available at very low prices.

My most personal challenge is being a quiet (albeit colorful) introvert. Getting out and marketing goes against my grain. I do find myself intentionally resisting the temptation to only promote my own art from a “scarcity” mindset, without participating in supporting others in their art careers. I have found it a meaningful and joyful activity to buy and collect art from other artists alongside the process of marketing my own work.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I am hosting a pop-up art show this month, September 15-16, Saturday 11am-8pm & Sunday 12pm-5pm at the Texas Art Asylum at 1719 Live Oak St., Houston, Texas 77003. I am calling it “An Art Show for the End of an Era”, because our last kid just left home for college, ending thirty years of doing art with mothering as a backdrop.

I have my “Full Circle” tree series hanging at the Vineyard Church of Houston at 1035 East 11th Street, Houston, Texas 77009 in a show called “Transitions”, on view through November 1, 2018. They represent the four seasons and were my first collage trees. Of course, much of my work is also on my website and I share it on Instagram and Facebook.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.serenechaosstudios.com
• Phone: 2816605689
• Email: lltenney@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serenechaos4/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisatenneyartist/
• Other: https://ltenney.blogspot.com

Image Credit:
David Tenney, Lisa Tenney

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