The art community in Little Rock boasts a network of talented artisans creating works from a vast range of styles and forms. One artist you’ll want to pay particular attention to is Lisa Krannichfeld, a young artist that has been exposed to a global audience after her work was featured in magazines and blogs all around the world.
With her latest gallery opening at the Historic Arkansas Museum (available until April 5), Krannichfeld has solidified herself as one of the top artists in the state’s biggest metropolitan city.
Her signature Chinese ink and watercolor paintings are instantly recognizable in private and corporate collections.
“I started with Chinese ink while I was taking Chinese in college and to help me learn the characters and how to write them, I took a night class in Chinese calligraphy,” ,” Krannichfeld says. “That’s when I first started working with the brush and the ink. Before that, I was mainly an oil painter, but now that I work with water color and ink, I don’t have the patience for oil anymore.”
This specific type of art is, however a labor of love.
To get the runny, wet style, the paper must be wet the paper which allows the ink to spread and become spontaneous. After it dries, she mounts it on to wood to create a sturdy surface in which to pour the resin on to. She then puts a flame to the painting in order to rid it of any air bubbles.
“I have two dogs, which doesn’t make it any easier,” she says. “I usually spend an hour or two removing dog hair before I can pour the resin.”
With such laborious and intricate work, comes the expectation of mistakes, which Krannichfeld says end up inspiring her and force her to take a different direction in the piece. Other artists and of course, interesting people, she says, also inspire and influence her work.
An entire painting, she says will take about 3 or 4 days to complete. The process can be seen on Krannichfeld’s website: http://lisakrannichfeld.com/
Krannichfeld, who is an art teacher at Pulaski Academy during the day, says some of those interesting people are oftentimes her students. Krannichfeld also cited artists from the local art community as a source of inspiration, many of which she is close with. Krannichfeld and her contemporaries meet-up on a regular basis through Artists INC, a program supported by the Argenta Arts Foundation.
“There are 25 of us and we meet every Monday evening and we talk about how to make art your profession,” Krannichfeld said. “We are all either part-time artists, or retired and an artist, or have day jobs [as artists]. So, it’s nice to see those people regularly, and get to talk about art and hang out even though we have really different styles. We all want each other to succeed.”
Another vehicle for inspiration and influence, Krannichfeld says, is social media. She will often post updates to her various social media outlets to get feedback on some of her work to see if she’s on to something.
“The cool thing about social media is that I can just post a painting and people all over the world can see it immediately. Even if I don’t think it would [sell], somebody else might really love it,” Krannichfeld said.
Krannichfeld is using that feedback in an upcoming series that she’s preparing for M2 Gallery, located at the Pleasant Ridge Town Center.
“It will feature a lot of new work. I’m experimenting with mixing the ink and the watercolor with collage. I really like where I’m headed with it!”
Krannichfeld expects the series to be shown sometime in May.
