We recently connected with Lisa Rainey and have shared our conversation below.
Lisa, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
Following my passion to be an artist has been a risk. It’s been a risk since I started art school up until now. Being an artist was something I knew I had to do ever since I was In grade school. It made me feel like I was home, and that I was being true to myself.
In my early 20’s I moved from northern California down to attend LCAD in Laguna Beach and paint. Leaving all, my family, job and friends for this school was a huge leap. It absolutely changed my life, and showed me that anything was possible.
When I attended Santa Rosa community college, a girl named Fauna told me about this school. My sister and I decided to road trip down and visit Laguna Beach in 1998 to visit the school and check out the area. I’ll never forget the joy I had and the connection I had to this place, saying to my sister at the Café across from the Laguna Art Museum, “I will move here and will never leave”.
I applied when I got back to Santa Rosa and was accepted, then drove down in a U-haul two weeks later. I have continued to come back to Laguna after a couple of big moves, so my statement remained true for the most part. Now years later I have built my art career and have worked to establish myself here in Laguna as a local artist and art teacher. This all started from one decision to come to art school and get my BFA.
The risk was truly to believe in this gift and follow through with nurturing it. I had a very supportive family, so that helped me to make this decision and to stay true to my course.
Lisa, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Lisa Rainey, a painter and art teacher living and working here in Laguna Beach California. As an LCAD graduate with a BFA, I applied for art related work as much as I could. Working with different non-profit art organizations as an art teacher, the Laguna art museum, and also becoming a muralist working on murals and wall finishes for homes. That became one of my main business in the early 2000’s, along with teaching art and painting.
What I really was passionate about though were my paintings on canvas in oils. LCAD trained us classically to paint the figure, portrait and still life in school. About 6 years after graduating, I opened an art gallery in Newport Beach CA, and called it Rainey Fine Art. There I met some phenomenal local plein air painters who showed in my space. Their work inspired me to go out and paint the local scenes of Laguna Beach and Newport. My joy of painting the outdoors continues in my work now, as well as painting the figure and portrait. I meet many art lovers in a variety of ways, especially painting outside. This allows me to share my work, and talk with people organically as I work out in nature. I have made many sales and have gotten commissions as well working outdoors. It makes me so happy to work to capture moments from life as much as I can. Portrait painting outdoors is fun too. Trying to capture the expressions and life in people’s faces and gestures as well. There is nothing that compares to working from life whether it is a portrait, landscape or still life. I also work from photos when I need to for specific commissions. In the last five years, while showing my artwork at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Canyon, I started to paint weddings. I met a bride on one of my outings, and ended up painting her at the Montage Resort right before she got married. She then hired me to paint her in her wedding dress. That motivated me to start to advertise to local Hotels and Resorts, painting weddings from life. It has been a fun addition to what I have already loved doing, painting people in landscape. Adding this to my business has been exciting and rewarding, especially since it is considered one of the most special days of our lives.
Throughout the years, I have also taught painting privately and corporately. Showing my work at the art festival here in the summer has been an adventure. The festival features many different types of artists every year. I taught art there as well from 2018-2023. Now I mainly show my work in small businesses around Laguna, and sell through social media and meeting people while painting here in town. I also host corperate paint parties for businesses and hotels here in Laguna Beach and beyond. I teach private paint classes here in my studio and also outdoor plein air paint lessons in Laguna Beach.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
It’s a funny story, but it took me many years to realize that my best market for clients was right out my back door.
For many years I thought I needed to be involved in the art festivals here, and stay plugged in with art shows and pop ups. Taking a risk in 2024, I decided to just paint more at the beautiful coves here. It was electric for me realizing how many people love to come up to us artists and see what we are doing, hear our stories and view our work. I have met so many people from around the world here in Laguna and especially when I am painting or walking my dog. I found the last couple of years that people feel less intimidated to come up and ask questions, view my work, and ask for my card when I am just painting at the beach or the parks here. It seems to be perfect for me to get the energy going, Once I sell a piece or get a painting commission, I post it to my stories or my main page on social media. That usually draws attention because friends and followers love to view the organic experience of how these interactions take place. They are lively and spontaneous. It really adds to the overall stories of how I meet clients and more people want to engage and be apart of it as well. It inspires me to keep living my authentic way of life. Sometimes the easiest things take the long way around to figure out. This is how it has worked for me. It’s like what I always longed for was right in front of me. Trusting myself to let go of the old systems and ways that I thought I had to do things set me free. I really am surprised by this and encourage anyone who wants to begin their own creative journey to trust their voice and their desires. I believe God put them there and He wishes to help us to fulfill them.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Like I have shared, this artist’s life has always been a test of resilience. Never giving up, always picking myself up and believing in the journey. I think the best example of this was when I got divorced in 2017. Being married for 9 years, and together for 11 was a huge part of my life. I had a pretty comfortable life with my husband at the time. Those days we had started my gallery as well. I had continued with my painting and teaching after my gallery closed in 2010, but after my divorce I had to relearn who I was, what I wanted to do and how to survive. I knew that I had to keep going with my art, because that was what I had studied and what I felt I was skilled at. It’s true when I say, that’s all I knew I could do, so there was no turning back. It’s been eight years now, and I have grown so much. My faith in Jesus has strengthened me so much because I know I am not alone and He has always been by my side to guide me and supply my every need. That alone has helped me to keep believing in this art journey and to not doubt what I have been created to do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Raineyfineart.com
- Instagram: Lraineyart
- Facebook: Lisa Rainey
Image Credits
tnkphotodotcom