Corvallis artist refocuses her work over pandemic

Originally published in the Ravalli Republic and written by Michelle McConnaha on April 25, 2021

Corvallis artist Leisa Lewis said the pandemic changed her art but that she has always been an artist.

“I’ve created all my life,” she said. “I was a really shy kid so art, drawing and crafts were a way for me to express myself so I understood and so people could understand me.”

She did not grow up in the Bitterroot Valley but said she feels like she was raised here.

“My husband and I got married right out of high school, had our first baby and as a young adult I thought how I would make art as an entrepreneur,” she said. “The other day I found my ‘Made in Montana’ stickers from 1983.”

Her husband was a volunteer fireman in Corvallis and wanted a career in firefighting, so they headed off to California, then came back. She returned first because her large family is here. Their daughter and oldest son were in a bad car accident and she returned to care for her daughter 10 years ago.

“I quickly found my art tribe, I found my connection to art,” Lewis said. “This art community here is profound. They are my support group. I always say at that moment 10 years ago doing my art calmed a turbulent part of my life becoming my therapy as well as my expression.”

Lewis said that the pandemic has changed her work and outlook.

“A year ago, when we had to close down, I remember that feeling of ‘stop,’” she said. “I wasn’t panicked for a bit. I stayed at home and that lasted a day, then I made a decision that this shutdown would be a positive in my life.”

In March and April, of 2020, she cleaned out her art supplies.

“I decided to pay it forward, in a careful pandemic way I passed on the supplies I wasn’t actively using so someone else might get to play with a new medium,” she said. “I felt clean, organized and my art was nicely put before me.”

After deep soul searching because so much of her life had changed, she decided on a new direction for her art.

“I became thankful for the pandemic time to discover what motivates me now,” she said. “I had to realize that getting together my art tribe was not a possibility. So, feedback had to come from me. It was difficult but I had an opportunity to find my new art voice and for it to say something else.”

She did not pick up a paintbrush for months but researched and reflected on what she wanted her art to look like.

“I got to pick up a pencil and jot down thoughts, feelings and objectives,” Lewis said. “It was hard to stay away from my paint pallet, but it made it stronger when it was time to come back. Through the pandemic, I realized that if my art makes me happy people connect to that and they see it and my happy change is fulfilled through that connection.”

Lewis is a member of Artists Along the Bitterroot and wrote a statement about her art while finding her new voice.

“I make art because it's deeply a part of who I am. I work with my hands, my head, and my heart creating pieces that fill me with hope and anticipation,” she said.

On her birthday this year her grandchildren from Germany, California and the Bitterroot Valley all made her beautiful cards.

“When my granddaughter from here brought me my present she was bouncing around with excitement and said, ‘Nam, Nam do you love it? It’s my masterpiece,” Lewis said. “Of course, I love it, but I loved her pure honest joy. It was in that moment that I found my new voice, or at least recognized my art voice from long ago.”

Then Lewis took an online drawing class from Susan Shie that revolutionized her thought process.

“The class was not step-by-step drawing but about finding a way to express yourself and enjoy drawing,” Lewis said. “I took this class and my life was changed in an instant. Now I was drawing for fun and I felt a new connection to my art.”

Lewis said she has been on an 11-year journey that began with her daughter’s cognitive rehab therapy where a therapist would ask for an explanation to a phrase such as “as the crow flies.” Initially, she could not understand why that mattered.

“It turns out to be huge for someone with a brain injury,” Lewis said. “I’ve been on this 11-year journey of hearing a familiar phrase, jotting it down, researching its origin and painting it into an expression. This body of work had been a long time coming and I’m excited to release it during the Artist Along the Bitterroot tour in the fall.”

She continues to paint and share her art to connect with people.

“I used to call painting ‘playgrounding’ a made-up word, my art, tribe and collectors have been the reason that I keep at it,” she said. “I love that I get to share and pass on my version of good. It’s all about connection, especially through this pandemic. This last year was so disconnecting but we need to find new ways to connect. I feel like my art is better and stronger through this pandemic.”

Lewis calls herself an encaustic mixed media artist, combining two art techniques. Her art is vibrant and slightly abstract using hot beeswax and watercolor on rice paper. She layers the wax and watercolor washes to build value then irons the wax off to reveal the art.

“When you get the wax off it is a ‘wow’ moment and is like opening up a gift,” she said. “Hot wax and watercolor technique is exciting. When I found this, it gave me everything. I get to sculpt; I get the movement of watercolor and it is very joyful to me. I love it, love it, love it. It is a different look, not your usual painting.”

After the wax is removed, she preserves her paintings with a mixture of bee’s wax and damar resin.

Lewis said everyone should do art because it is a great outlet, and she would like to do a support group with art for caregivers.

“I’m so passionate about art and it is something I want to share,” she said. “I’m still learning about brain injury and the caregiving part of it.”

Lewis does special events at Art Focus, Art City, Artists Along the Bitterroot tours and the Montana Professional Artists Association. Her website is www.LeisaLewis406.com and she is teaching through the Explore the Arts Program.