Lisa Sutton chose to pursue art in 1990, graduating from the University of Michigan.  23 years later, after studying at the Austin Atelier under Edward Povey and working out of a studio at Fe29, she began the first of her collections of larger portraits.  

Working alongside Povey-Schultz, Robin Amora, and Croix Williamson, she began to have conversations about what art can mean in our culture. 

Sutton’s artwork had been known to spark powerful reactions in viewers, but after further study of artists like Anselm Kiefer, she found the size of her canvases constrictive. She began to increase the size of her work, looking for greater expression in texture and color.

  It also became very important to create a painting that would serve as a vehicle by which people could express what is important to them honestly, fully and safely.  Her studio includes a community where wacky is the norm and visitors had better be prepared for an intellectual challenge.