Like many artists, Lanie Franza developed a penchant for drawing when she was a young child, but she also happened to have an artistically gifted grandfather who nudged her forward on her creative path.  “He would sell his work at art festivals,” remembers Franza, “and when we visited him, I’d sit next to him and draw.”

As she grew older, the Atlanta, GA, native continued to pursue her artistic interests, even while juggling her full-time job as a dental hygienist. While living on Long Island, NY, she took lessons at Stevenson Academy of Fine Arts in nearby Oyster Bay, and she also studied art independently.  Along the way, she came across Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain and Johannes Itten’s The Elements of Color.  For Franza, these classic books were game changers.  “I started doing master studies as an exercise

in reproducing color,” says the artist, who copied the works of greats like Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O’Keefe and Andrew Wyeth.  “You name it, I loved it,” she says, “And I never looked back.”

Now based in Seattle, the full-time painter has taken workshops with Ned Mueller and Michele Usibelli.  She frequently portrays the local scenery–including Pike Place Market–en plein air, but still lifes, people and animals are other favorite subjects. “I’m not afraid to say I paint beauty,” says Franza, who describes her work as a midpoint between realism and impressionism–of a scene.”

–Kim Agricola, Southwest Art Magazine, 2019