I am Lisa Ramsey, the artist and the host of this website, LisaRamseyArt.com. I am a self-taught artist in painting and drawing, with some help from lessons and art tutorials on the Internet.
Lisa Ramsey – My Stumble Into Painting
I am not a natural-born painter, I didn’t start painting that first day as if I knew what I was doing – faaaaaaaaarrr from it. And I still don’t. And I’ve been painting over 2 years now.
I completed my first “painting” in 2016, right around the time of year when Christmas displays are unveiled at the big-box shopping stores (for those of you who live in a shoe, as I do nowadays, that is exactly September). The painting process took all of 30 minutes. But once that first painting was put into motion, I knew I stumbled upon a new and rare sense of tranquility that infiltrated my brain. It was my first happy little accident (Bob Ross, thank you).
A Writer, and a Crooked Toe.
I started life as a writer – ever since I could chew a pencil. I’ve never been published, other than online in a more sensitive type of creative writing site. As for the real publishers, I’ve had maybe three rejection letters that I saved for a little while.
Journaling has been a constant, and I have also spent years writing poetry, short stories, and children’s stories. I have a handful of unfinished novels and a screenplay tucked neatly away… somewhere. My first love is writing.
I’ve enjoyed other hobbies in my life – crocheting, woodworking, crafting, sewing, gardening, cooking, and a little bit of baking. Most important to me, I enjoy creating something out of almost nothing: sticky buns from a pile of flour, a birdhouse from abandoned pieces of wood, tomatoes from tiny little seeds.
And a children’s story from a crooked toe.
My Career as a Scientist
For the past two decades, I worked professionally as a Computer Scientist – designing, creating, and maintaining computer software from just a scrap of paper or a document of requirements. As with any undertaking that greatly interests me, I was known as a high achiever in my career.
With all these things under my belt, I further toss in a dash of imagination, stir in some hard work, and top it with a sprig of time. Voila!
The Apocolypse
I am grateful to have been able to learn and grow in each of my hobbies and work experiences. I feel that I have a wide variety of skills at my disposal. Whenever the apocalypse comes around, I will at least be able to feed, clothe, and shelter myself.
And get email back up and running.
How I “Found” Painting, because drawing was for unicorns.
I found painting by accident. During a move from the sale of our home into a humble apartment, I seriously downsized most of my craft things. What little I had remaining has been stored away in a huge but over-stuffed closet in our apartment. I decided to take a break from crafting and just focus on my career and my little family.
After a couple of months with idle hands, I rummaged through some of my craft boxes and pulled out some old paint and brushes along with a canvas board – things that belonged to my children during their teen years – 10-12 years ago.
I have always wanted to paint, or “learn how to paint”. I could never draw (except for unicorns during my junior high years). I associated drawing with painting. I seriously envied people who could create such beautiful things – realistic or expressionist or abstract – with just strokes of color.
A Blue Ribbon! Eh, whatever.
I painted a few times as a child, during the requisite art classes through junior high school. I ended up winning a blue ribbon. Thank you Mr. Art Teacher, wherever you may be right now.
In my early school years, I was peripherally aware of Bob Ross. I recognized him on the PBS channel every now and then, during recesses where we weren’t able to play outside (weather, mostly).
I didn’t start the fire.
In my first painting as an adult, I incorporated Bob Ross’s dab-dab effect for my tree. Sky and water were easy, just smear blue and a little white across the canvas, and it makes its own wispy clouds. I added a shimmering reflection of the sun across the water just under the canopy of leaves.
When I was done – WOW. My little first-time painting LOOKED like I painted a tree. ON PURPOSE. I showed my husband. Pretty good, he agreed. He pointed out that the smoke from a campfire in the background was interesting.
That campfire he pointed out was what I intended to be the reflection in the water. Today, I think those are the best clouds I have ever painted.
My First Painting
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Lisa Ramsey
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