Studio Journal Entry 004: The Story Behind Shoals

"This was the first painting I created when I decided to take painting seriously."

That sentence still surprises me.

Not because Shoals was my first painting—it wasn't.

But because it was the first one where I stopped simply experimenting and started asking myself a different question:

"What if I really did this?"

At the time, I didn't know where that question would lead.

I just knew I wanted to find out.

Unlike many of my paintings, I didn't have the title first.

In fact, someone else named this one.

I had been tossing around a few ideas of my own, but the moment I heard Shoals, I knew that was it.

Sometimes a painting tells you its name.

Sometimes someone else hears it first.

This painting also introduced me to one of my favorite recurring themes...

Fish.

😂

Ironically, they almost caused me to scrap the entire painting.

Looking back now, it's funny how often that seems to happen.

One of my favorite details isn't actually the fish, though.

It's the crashing wave.

Using my palette knife, I made quick, sweeping motions that created tiny splashes of paint. They gave the wave a sense of energy and movement that I still love today.

It's one of those little moments where the paint seemed to know what it wanted to do before I did.

When I stand in front of Shoals now, the feeling that comes over me is difficult to describe.

The closest word I can find is...

Satisfaction.

Not because I think it's perfect, but because it reminds me of the moment I stopped wondering whether I could become—and started believing that maybe I already was an artist.

Shoals came before Convergence.

It came before Cathedral Reef.

In many ways, it laid the foundation for both of them.

It showed me that movement mattered.

That energy mattered.

That color could carry emotion all by itself.

When people tell me they connect with Shoals, I imagine it's because of the colors or the movement.

Those are the first things that catch your eye.

But when I look at it...

I see confidence.

Shoals reminds me that I can do anything I set my mind to.

At the time, I didn't know this painting would become the beginning of something much bigger.

I just knew I couldn't stop thinking about what I wanted to paint next.

Looking back now...

I almost imagine Shoals smiling at me and saying,

"Told you so."

Until next time,

Thanks for spending a few minutes behind the easel with me.

One of my favorite things about abstract art is that no two people experience a painting the same way. If this piece reminds you of a place, a memory, or simply a feeling, then it's already begun a conversation—and I love that.

See you in the studio,

Lisa
LBW Creative Studio

——

One Last Thought Before I Clean My Brushes

"Confidence doesn't usually arrive all at once. Sometimes it begins with one painting that quietly whispers, 'Keep going.'"