Frankston painter, Lisa O’Keefe has had the rare pleasure of living her dream – and she still does. Not only has she spent her entire life doing what she loves, but she has also had the opportunity to travel to the quintessential artist’s holy grail to learn her incredible skills.
Lisa wanted to study art in Paris, but not just anywhere; she wanted the crème de la crème. She applied to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Entry is very competitive. On the strength of her portfolio, she was accepted. It was such a fantastic experience that she ended up spending fifteen years studying, working and exhibiting in Paris.
From the beginning, it was a pretty sure bet that Lisa would be an artist. She was drawing as soon as she could hold a pencil. She’s never wanted anything else. Lisa was born in Toowoomba, Queensland, but the family wasn’t there for long. An itinerant life was about to begin.
Lisa’s father was a physician, providing health clearance for migrants to Australia. In the 1950s, Somers, Victoria, was an immigration station. The family moved there for his work, but he had always wanted to work in Europe so they moved to Salzburg, Austria, next and then to Munich in 1956.
Life in Munich was interesting with its eclectic mix of Germans, Americans, Russians and French. In her early years, Lisa was surrounded by beautiful art and architecture. Her childhood was steeped in culture. She attended German schools, then switched to an American school. She returned to Australia with an American accent.
Moving back to Bonegilla, Victoria was an adjustment after several years in Europe, but she soon got used to it and found her groove. Drawing and painting were her constants during a semi-nomadic childhood. Art was a way of grounding herself and she could do it anywhere.
Both her parents were creative. Her mother had a beautiful singing voice and crafted amazing needlework. Her father liked writing. Some of his short stories were published in the Canberra Times when they lived there. Her father would tell Lisa bedtime stories and they often read books together.
For her last two years of high school, Lisa went off to boarding school in Moss Vale, NSW. While she was a good student, her urge to paint outran her love of academia. Lisa was more taken by the school’s old buildings set in the beautiful countryside of the Southern Highlands.
After graduation, Lisa applied to Sydney Technical College to study art, but abandoned that and returned to Europe, travelling and working as an au pair for a few years. In London, she saw Rodin’s The Kiss and Picasso’s Three Musicians and that was a game changer. “They blew my mind. I thought then that if I could give that kind of pleasure with my art, I would feel that I have truly achieved something,” she says. So, Lisa went to Paris to study art.
“I was drawn to Paris because I love the history, the art and artists, the literature and architecture,” she says. At Beaux-Arts, all of her classes were conducted in French so she had to come up to speed with the language quickly. Lisa spent several years learning invaluable foundational art skills across several mediums. Being in Paris where she had so much exposure to culture, history, art and architecture as well as a rich mix of global citizenry was truly inspiring. Lisa graduated from Beaux-Arts with a Mention Bien, the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts with Honours.
When Lisa returned to Australia, this time to Melbourne, she immediately set up a studio painting and exhibiting her work. Her paintings are held in collections in France, Great Britain, the United States and Australia.
Lisa meticulously plans each work, drawing it out and then transferring it to canvas. She works mainly in acrylics, creating unique, sophisticated compositions filled with interesting stories that reflect her education, experience and life as a world traveller.
“Painting is cerebral. Physical manipulation of a material is relaxing and therapeutic,” she says.
While she loves painting, Lisa needs a counterpoint just for a break. She makes totem sculptures and quirky Theatre of the Absurd drawings for fun. They are dotted all around her studio. “Painting is cerebral. Physical manipulation of a material is relaxing and therapeutic,” she says.
Even as a career artist, Lisa says her work is still evolving. “Art is a constant practice in problem solving. I’ve always created abstract spaces with realistic aspects. Everything refers back to people I have known. That’s the common thread through my work. Colour is important and I’m always experimenting with the visual aspects of texture,” she says.
Being in the natural environment of the Mornington Peninsula with its ocean and bay, rolling hills, fields and vineyards is a wonderful escape from her former city life. It’s a soothing base from which to create art which enhances her joie de vivre.
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