Lisa de Graffenried's Artwork

Lisa de Graffenried has always loved color. Delighted by colorful folk-art designs during her college years, Lisa began painting on decorative objects and furniture. As a member of Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, she painted an ornament that was chosen to adorn the White House Christmas tree in 2004 — it can still be seen on rotation in the George H. W. Bush Presidential Museum.

Years later, on a vacation with her family, Lisa visited a gallery full of colorful landscapes and was inspired to explore her love of color on canvases. Driven by a desire to display beauty, Lisa has studied color and composition from leading artists.

In addition to color, Lisa’s artwork is motivated by her growing understanding of God’s love for her. Knowing his unfailing love has given Lisa the freedom and courage to paint in the way God has uniquely made her. She hopes her art somehow reflects the beauty of nature and the depth of God’s love for each person.

Lisa lives in Kilgore in the piney woods of East Texas with her husband on a 27 acre hobby ranch with longhorn cattle and a horse.

Artist’s Statement About Pondering Series:
“A close friend recently told me that she sees me as one who ponders a lot. I do enjoy contemplating life and what God is up to. I often take walks by our pond in the woods.  In this God-made cathedral of tall pines, I hear the birds singing His praise and the trees whisper His name, and I pour out my heart to Him. I see all of this beauty reflected in the pond and remember my deepest desire is to be a reflector of God’s beauty.

When life is hard, God’s beauty is not always my first thought. I often pour out my restless heart with tears on hard days, searching for my place of resting in Him. Listening for God, I remind myself that He sees me in this moment just as He has seen me in the past. I ponder how He is using the pain to shape beauty in me or through me. That’s just what my Redeemer does. 

My Pondering series has come out of these walks. I move in closer to the pond looking for the play of light shining through the trees at different times of day. Hundreds of photos on my phone, record and remind me of these times and inspire this series of paintings.”