|
"I have loved animals and marine life since I was a child. I paint and sculpt the amazing creatures we share this planet with because they fascinate me so much. They make me laugh and wonder, and I hope to create awareness of their struggle to continue to maintain their rightful place here with us. I want to use art to keep reminding others of their existence and vitality."
|
|
Lisa Millard is a self-taught wildlife artist from Fort Worth, Texas. She spent most of her childhood drawing her favorite animals, and when she won 1st place in an Energy Conservation Poster Contest in school, she used the $50 prize money to buy an aquarium, all the while dreaming of being a scuba diver one day.
After graduation and some college, she worked for 12 years as a model and public speaker, traveling all over the U.S. to work at various events and auto shows, and meeting top executives and celebrities. During that time, she was able to start fulfilling her childhood dream and she went on numerous dive trips, including the Galapagos Islands, Cayman, Cozumel, Roatan, Turks & Caicos, the Bahamas, Belize, Bonaire, and the Hawaiian Islands.
She also lived on the Big Island of Hawaii for over a year.
"Some of the best and most exciting moments of my life have taken place underwater. I have swam with 40-foot whale sharks, hundreds of hammerhead sharks, sea lions, and other marine life. I`ve had a lot of fun so far and I want to spend even more time in the ocean in the future." Her aquarium skills improved quite a bit and she was soon keeping octopuses as pets, as they are her favorite marine creature. Lisa also appeared as a diver and on-camera host in several episodes of the "Scubaworld" TV series.
Although she enjoyed the fast-paced, professional, corporate world of working and traveling, she has now shifted her focus back to art.
"It`s been an interesting change from being on stage under bright lights with huge crowds of people listening to me talk, to the completely solitary quiet environment of working one-on-one with a canvas. Could it be any more extreme?! I really love it though. I want to create paintings that are unique, or ironic, or that tell a story."
Lisa`s style is realism and she loves detail. "I usually think of the idea for the painting first, and then I set out to do that idea justice, by bringing it to life as realistically as possible."
Although she has only recently turned her focus to her artwork, Lisa has currently raised over $6000 so far for animal charities by donating her artwork, and she has plans to contribute more. "I`ve always been more interested in experiences than material things, and I have always cared about wildlife. You cannot take one single material thing with you when you die, so it`s important to me that in the future I will be able to look back at my life and be proud of the fact that I made a positive difference."
|
