Lis Zadravec
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Tammy-Princess-Moviestar,
15 x 15 in., Colored pencil on paper, 15 x 15 in., 2015, $900
15 x 15 in., Colored pencil on paper, 15 x 15 in., 2015, $900
Tam really calls herself "Tammy-Princess-Moviestar" which reminds us that every girl, wherever she is from, inherently knows she is a Princess.
About The Artist
Artist Statement
In life, who we become is a formula of potential against adversity. It is my life story. It is yours. In my narrative portraits, I celebrate becoming through circumstances, what someone looked like as a child, before we know the whole story or at a place of decision. I call them my Girl Heroes because becoming the woman I was meant to be against all odds is the story I know best. In telling it, I show what is heroic in us all. Coming from African heritage, dispersed through the Americas my multi-ethnic subjects tell their stories. The Selkie is discovering to which land she belongs as metaphor for a young woman of color, coming of age in the climate of today. In another, she clutches her bunny-protector through tumultuous teen years. Another girl blows her dreams to God through bubbles. She says she wants to be a judge who does not take bribes fro men who sexually assault little girls. I approach my artwork like a writer, capturing moments in a style inspired by the great illustrations and artwork in books many of us poured over as children. rendering them realistically, in the modern-century media of colored pencils..
Bio
Recently, artwork by Lis Zadravec has been taken note of by the Art World, both locally& the international community of colored pencil artists. This year alone she has won more than a dozen award and appeared in print almost as many times both in articles she has written and articles written about her work. The portraits she creates have a strong narrative aesthetic that is reminiscent of the masterful illustrations of generations past, books we poured over as children. There is an aliveness to her work which makes her subjects seem to want to step right out of their frames! While her first expertise is in using oils, she has perfected a technique using colored pencils that amazes even the manufacturers. Lis is actually using the Maroger oil painting technique she was trained in, while rendering the work in colored pencils and mixed media. The result has a textured, realistic effect like the traditional portraiture. Innovative in her approach to materials, she creates her surfaces, pouring over them in an involved & lengthy process that one judge compared to the meditative work of iconographers. Born in Washington DC, Lis began taking art classes at age four. By 10, she was studying in the adult program at the Corcoran School of Art. On the collegiate level, she studied again at the Corcoran as well as at American University, Montgomery College and with artists of the DC Color School. Respected for her teaching as well as her artwork, Ms. Zadravec co-founded Crossroads School of the Arts in Herndon, VA, and has taught in many venues from Northern Virginia to upstate New York, to all ages, children through adult. Lis expresses her goal as this; "We all have been given the directive to multiply our gifts. I can think of no better way than to share mine while watching more art be created than
I'd ever be able to do myself." While making her art, Lis has raised two children and built teaching business. She has ambitions in both her artwork and writing projects. She says, "A well-trained artist is a person who can do anything."
In life, who we become is a formula of potential against adversity. It is my life story. It is yours. In my narrative portraits, I celebrate becoming through circumstances, what someone looked like as a child, before we know the whole story or at a place of decision. I call them my Girl Heroes because becoming the woman I was meant to be against all odds is the story I know best. In telling it, I show what is heroic in us all. Coming from African heritage, dispersed through the Americas my multi-ethnic subjects tell their stories. The Selkie is discovering to which land she belongs as metaphor for a young woman of color, coming of age in the climate of today. In another, she clutches her bunny-protector through tumultuous teen years. Another girl blows her dreams to God through bubbles. She says she wants to be a judge who does not take bribes fro men who sexually assault little girls. I approach my artwork like a writer, capturing moments in a style inspired by the great illustrations and artwork in books many of us poured over as children. rendering them realistically, in the modern-century media of colored pencils..
Bio
Recently, artwork by Lis Zadravec has been taken note of by the Art World, both locally& the international community of colored pencil artists. This year alone she has won more than a dozen award and appeared in print almost as many times both in articles she has written and articles written about her work. The portraits she creates have a strong narrative aesthetic that is reminiscent of the masterful illustrations of generations past, books we poured over as children. There is an aliveness to her work which makes her subjects seem to want to step right out of their frames! While her first expertise is in using oils, she has perfected a technique using colored pencils that amazes even the manufacturers. Lis is actually using the Maroger oil painting technique she was trained in, while rendering the work in colored pencils and mixed media. The result has a textured, realistic effect like the traditional portraiture. Innovative in her approach to materials, she creates her surfaces, pouring over them in an involved & lengthy process that one judge compared to the meditative work of iconographers. Born in Washington DC, Lis began taking art classes at age four. By 10, she was studying in the adult program at the Corcoran School of Art. On the collegiate level, she studied again at the Corcoran as well as at American University, Montgomery College and with artists of the DC Color School. Respected for her teaching as well as her artwork, Ms. Zadravec co-founded Crossroads School of the Arts in Herndon, VA, and has taught in many venues from Northern Virginia to upstate New York, to all ages, children through adult. Lis expresses her goal as this; "We all have been given the directive to multiply our gifts. I can think of no better way than to share mine while watching more art be created than
I'd ever be able to do myself." While making her art, Lis has raised two children and built teaching business. She has ambitions in both her artwork and writing projects. She says, "A well-trained artist is a person who can do anything."
