The Inspiration of Color

May 24, 2015

Born in Guyana, painter Lisa Wilkins Schulte was raised on a sugar plantation and later attended school in England, focusing on music.

"I studied opera, but hated it," she recalls.

"Also, I was homesick. I was 5,000 miles away from my family."

Schulte came to the United States in 1987 to attend East Tennessee State University, studying fine arts. 22 years ago, she moved to northern Michigan and now lives with her husband on a lake near Traverse City.

"I love it here," she says. "Northern Michigan has some magnificent scenery. In recent years, however, some scenes have changed dramatically. For example, one painting I did of a field filled with bales of hay is now a subdivision. That taught me to paint rapidly."

Schulte has explored many different media, concentrating most recently on soft pastels and acrylics. Whatever medium she explores, vibrant, eye-catching color is always a prime factor.

"The purity of color is unique in pastels, not diluted by oil, acrylic or water," she explains. "The result is bright, intense color that is extremely light fast."

HOW I GOT STARTED

My whole family is very creative. I have been painting as long as I can remember and I had wonderful art teachers growing up. I started landscape painting en plein air in 2004, after taking a workshop at Art- Center Traverse City, now Crooked Tree. I’ve taken several workshops that have been instrumental in my development as a landscape painter.

THE STORY BEHIND MY ART, MY INSPIRATION 

I grew up in the Caribbean where color is ever-present year round and I try to instill as much color into my paintings to make them as vibrant as possible. I find it interesting how color can completely change the mood of a painting. I want viewers to have a good experience when they look at my paintings.

WORK I’M MOST PROUD OF

I’ve painted many different subjects, including still lifes, fruit and vegetables, and abstract, but it is my landscapes that I am most proud of. Here in northwest Lower Michigan, the land offers amazing subject matter and the quality of the light is beautiful. I especially have a soft spot for the Sleeping Bear Dunes. The 2015 Manitou Music Festival poster is one of my paintings. I did it at a paint out sponsored by the Glen Arbor Art Association.

YOU WON’T BELIEVE

I once sailed a 37-foot sailboat across the Atlantic. When I was 21, my father bought the boat in England and, along with one other guy, we sailed it from Gibraltar to Barbados. It was 2,400 or 2,500 miles. Also, I was painting at the D. H. Day Barns last summer and a flock of Sandhill Cranes walked right in front of me through the tall grass! I put a new canvas up on my easel really quickly, sketched them in, and then painted! It was a cool experience. They must have been about 3 or 4 feet tall and ever so graceful.

MY FAVORITE ARTIST

Wassily Kandinsky, who painted in the early 1900s. His colors are very bold, very rich. The man is a master of color! Another artist who was very important to me was Jill Hinds, my graphic design teacher at NMC. After taking her classes, she became my main painting buddy. Also, I’ve taken workshops with Jerry Gates, Charlie Murphy and Mary Fuscaldo. It was a Bob Burridge workshop that got me hooked on acrylics.

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING YOUNG ARTISTS 

Look, but also "˜see!’ Take time to investigate the details and draw and paint from life and your imagination. And then do it as much as you can.

MY WORK CAN BE SEEN/PURCHASED

At the Live For Art Gallery in Beulah or through my website, www.lisawilkinsschulte.com.