Lisa Flynn enjoys painting old cars.
Marianne Graff
The PebbleCreek Art club takes great pleasure in awarding Lisa Flynn November Artist of the Month. Lisa had resided in Washington State for most of her life, calling Redmond her home until she and her husband, Len, retired to PebbleCreek in 2011. Lisa began her career in college working in a fabric store and teaching young people how to sew. From there she and a colleague began to design, manufacture and sell handbags. Her first experience at selling her own creations occurred when the pair received their first order from Nordstrom’s and that enterprise developed into a successful 10-year venture. Next, Lisa accepted a position with Nordstrom’s and retired after 25 years in 2010 as the Vice President of Corporate Human Resources.
In planning retirement, Lisa wanted to devote herself to creative endeavors and become a painter. She followed advice to take drawing classes before starting to paint and enrolled in a workshop entitled Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain. This class gave her the confidence to continue pursuing art as a productive hobby. Upon arriving as a snowbird in PebbleCreek, Lisa spent several years at the Creative Arts Center learning to paint watercolor, acrylics and oil. Then, she and Len agreed that when they built their home, the golf cart garage would become her studio. As a result, Lisa now relishes her time painting and considers acrylic and watercolor her favorite mediums. Lisa loves color, the creamy texture of Golden acrylic paint and mixing colors together with a palette knife. She loves watercolors and how the colors mingle right on the paper. Since she enjoys traveling, Lisa notes their portability. In her words: “Nothing makes a flight go faster than painting a little 5×7 piece of art.” Furthermore, Lisa says that she has always enjoyed building jigsaw puzzles and declares: “Painting is like a puzzle when you start – the first few pieces are hard to find, but then the puzzle keeps pulling itself together with patience, imagination and perseverance.”
Lisa’s paintings are beautiful, full of color, creative perspective and unique subjects. She paints old cars because she imagines the lives they’ve been part of and the stories they could tell and because she appreciates their shapes and colors as they age. Lisa is also captivated by horses—by their strength and beauty and social interactions—which she observes and paints during her summers on an Oregon ranch. In addition, she paints flowered plants as intriguing portraits and seems to have a vast supply of future subjects. So tune in! Lisa claims that “curiosity and learning have always been a big part of my life and living in PebbleCreek certainly satisfies both!” Her work will be on display in the Creative Arts Center in the Art Club window and in the Tuscany and Eagle’s Nest clubhouses.