Lisa Rainey

Lisa Rainey, an oil painter from Laguna Beach, California, works in a colorful, vibrant style best described as impressionistic realism. Growing up in Bend, Oregon, Rainey cultivated an early appreciation for nature and beauty and an instinctual fascination for art. She began drawing and painting at the age of 10 and was encouraged by her parents to take private art lessons in junior high school. After her family relocated to Santa Rosa, California, she discovered Laguna College of Art + Design (LCAD), where she eventually received her Bachelor of Fine Arts  (B.F.A.) degree. It was here that she fell in love with color and the luscious medium of oil paint.

Laguna Beach—with historic artistic legacy and idyllic landscape and light—was the ideal place for Rainey to hone her creativity and call home, and she eventually found herself returning there after brief seasons living in other parts of California and Chicago. Rainey loves to paint people, still lifes, and plein air landscapes, but her forte and favorite subject is flowers, especially those of the bright, bold, and beautiful variety. Her work includes large, close-up views of white hydrangeas; pale peonies; bright sunflowers; and delicate daisies, and she often pushes reality to match her dynamic vision. Rainey’s infectious joy and vitality are conveyed through the energetic alla prima style through which she expresses herself: painting directly from life, “all at once,” to quickly capture the essence and immediacy of what is seen. Rainey feels pure joy in the process of creating, and her paintings are fueled by her affectionate openness toward life, especially people and nature. She desires to express her own view of the world, and wants to capture what is so often overlooked.