Lisa Molyneux was born and raised in Albany New York, spending every summer in Ontario, Canada. She knew from an early age that her life would revolve around making art. She attended the State University of New York at Geneseo and received Bachelor degrees in Art and Theater. During her last semester at SUNY, she was struck by a drunk driver and lost one of her legs. She spent almost a year in a hospital in Rochester, New York. This physical setback led to the decision to further her theater education at the Ohio State University and to complete a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater design. During this time she studied both costume design and set design. She was eventually able to walk again. 

After finishing the three year program, she pursued a career as a designer, mostly designing costumes, for several theaters in the Midwest. While doing design work she realized that she was missing scene painting. She has, for the last 22 years been painting scenery for the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Several years into this career she began creating her own oil paintings at home. She eventually decide to devote herself full-time to art.

Lisa's work varies in style and as the "Muse" strikes her, she may paint in either a realistic, impressionistic or abstract manner. Her subject manner is primarily swamps, bogs and different kinds of wetlands. She creates drama in each painting by using light, texture and color palette. Her paintings change as the daylight changes in the room where her paintings hang, this is by design, she has used warm and cool glazes to enhance the effect of light.  She approaches each painting as if it were a stage setting, one that the viewer wants to enter, wearing rubber boots.

Artist Interview

1) What inspired you to become an artist?

I was inspired to draw and paint when I was very young. Typically, Americans learn to read and write in the first grade. I lived in Beruit and didn’t get off to a good start. When I returned to the United States I continued to struggle scholastically. However, I found that I could draw and paint well. My parents encouraged me and I felt success. That success inspired me to pursue a life devoted to making art.

2) What other artists have influenced your style or art practice and why?

My all time favorite artists are impressionist landscape artists. I look to them to solve problems in my own paintings. I study their compositions, color choices and overall atmospheres present in their paintings. John Henry Twatchman, George Inness and JMW Turner would be my go to deceased painters. Paula Risch Head and Valerie Shesko are two living Cincinnati painter’s who’s work draw me in and inspire me.

3) Can you discuss your landscape series in more detail?

I am drawn to uninhabited places. I find it interesting to see what places turn into when left completely alone. Swampy areas especially interest me. Perhaps it’s because they are seldom the subject of great works of art but also because of the total lack of tidiness and pretentiousness. I’m all about that.