Lisa Ostapinski is a painter and art educator based in Oakland, CA.  She works with unusual materials and processes including metal leaf gilding, encaustic painting (beeswax), sgraffito and oil paint marbling.  Her work juxtaposes archaic media with modern forms producing a fresh, contemporary take on these art historical techniques.  Lisa’s imagery pulls from a diverse array of sources including textile and jewelry design, architecture, modern painting, the natural world, scientific illustration, religious painting and occult symbolism.  She chooses lustrous, visually rich materials such as gold leaf and beeswax for their natural beauty as well as their historical use in European religious painting to evoke the divine.  Lisa’s work is an exploration of the potential for abstract forms and luminous materials to communicate ideas about the spiritual realm.

​