Enjoy "Stickman & Mermaid" by Lisa Cush in the Hagnauer Gallery of the Manitou Art Center.

Artist Statement: I am Lisa Cush: artist, traveler and thrill seeker. My work ranges from everyday life to fantastic images and flights of fancy. While influenced by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Mark Rothko, Camille Pissarro, and Clementine Hunter, my art is also constantly evolving. Even as I think I’ve settled on the visual voice I seek to share, it begins to change. It’s 2023 and artistic expression has once again survived the tidal wave of mass media. We are all profoundly impacted by personal experiences in surviving the socio-political climate of recent days and years. Yet, art remains an incredible source of respite and inspiration. I hope my paintings help wash away the dry dust of the mundane in everyday life and reveal the charm in the forgotten daydreams of your imagination.My current solo show, “Stickman + Mermaid” is an installation of paintings I hope will draw in the viewer as a witness to the beauty of the female form and give a voice to women and their inherent power. “Stickman + Mermaid” is filled with images and ideas for you to write in your own imaginative stories.

My goal is that my legend of the Garden of the Gods Mermaids will strike a chord and create new and unpredictable turns of thought and varying perspectives. When most artists paint mermaids, they are in the ocean or on the beach by the sea. My mermaids live beyond the ordinary… in the high desert of Colorado Springs. I created these works as an homage to the Colorado mermaids of the past and future. In my legend, mermaids live in the Garden of the Gods park — the last of the great inland sea. They only come out on magical starry nights to play in waters shallow and deep and relax on beaches and rocky shores…wherever and whatever the mermaids desire. Like you and I, mermaids have their own secret garden spot that speaks to them. Mermaids do not fear humans, but seldom allow people to see them.

However, mermaids love Stickman as he is also unique in his own way. He is simple and unvaried and mermaids are comfortable in his presence.I hope you see the feminine enchantment embodied in my mermaids… and in yourself. When you need magic, call upon the Colorado Mermaids and let your inner mermaid be reborn on miraculous starry nights.

Artist Biography: Lisa Cush is an award-winning watercolor and oil painter who holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Louisiana State University. Currently, her work focuses on mystic mermaids and stickman figures with a twist. Lisa has also forged a career in marketing and as a graphic designer. Her broad and creative endeavors also include sculpture, fine jewelry design, illustrations in published medical books and the industrial design of fabrics for the eradication of the guinea worm from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cush’s work has been shown throughout central and west Africa and in the USA. She also serves our community as a member of the Advisory Board of the Colorado Vocal Arts Ensemble (CVAE), an acclaimed chamber choir dedicated to excellence in the choral arts. To view some of Cush’s projects visit lisacush.com and follow her on instagram @lisacushart.