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Lisa Hawkins

Lisa is an oil painter whose subject is predominantly but not exclusively landscape. Informed by her abiding interest in colour and abstraction the paintings are often lively and vigorous.

When painting, she prefers to work from drawings and memory.  Making the work has developed into a meditative process where she often taps into deep unconscious feelings and memories which may reveal themselves in the work.  The titles of the paintings can reflect music, poetry or prose that has been an influence on the making of the work.  The painting is finished when Lisa feels there is nothing more to say.

Lisa’s fascination with gardens and pockets of cultivated wilderness on the fringes of urban areas can be traced back to the home where she grew up in Ilford which, although built up, was close to the Thames estuary and Epping Forest where she spent much of her childhood.

She was brought up by her mum and nan as her father died when she was an infant.  Her brother was quite a lot older than her, and she found that she had a lot of time to herself which she often chose to spend out of doors watching the sky, the clouds, the plants and insects.  Her childhood home backed onto a golf course which she loved to explore, and beyond that was Wanstead Flats and the City of London Cemetery.  She found she could explore allotments, rivers and lakes for hours without having to venture onto a road.   Her curiosity often got the better of her and she would stray further and further, each step feeling more exciting than the last. 

Now living in Kent, Lisa’s practice continues to focus on exploring and spending time in the countryside  and on the sea shore where she familiarises herself with the lie of the land  and its genus loci or spirit of place by drawing, painting and walking regularly.  

The viewer is invited to bring their own interpretation to the painting which is seldom a strict topographical representation of the subject.