TAC Member Highlight: Lori Roll

Oklahoma-born artist Lori Roll brings a rich background in photography, journalism, jewelry, and art to her current practice. Working primarily in cold wax and oil, encaustic wax, multimedia sketchbooks, and collage, Lori’s distinctive loose graphic style is a direct reflection of her deep love for nature. Her work often evokes both experienced and imagined memories through the creation of interior and exterior landscapes. Lori finds immense freedom in abstract expression, building her works with architectural layers of light, shadow, color, and her own unique visual language. You can find her teaching and exhibiting her art in Oklahoma, Maine, Arizona, and Texas.

Please continue reading for a glimpse at Lori’s artistic journey in her own words:

I grew up in Tulsa on Little Joe Creek and spent most of my childhood playing in the creek and woods, which imprinted deeply on my interior and exterior life. Today my garden studio looks out onto a waterfall pond and gardens, the adult version of my beloved creek. I often leave the door open when I’m painting to bring nature inside, especially when it is raining and the frogs are singing. Much of my painting involves abstract landscapes with water and sky images, colors, patterns and motion.

My journey as an artist started in childhood with finger painting, creating small worlds, imaginative play and music. On many nights my two siblings and I were lulled to sleep by my mother playing the piano. She taught us to play the piano, and I have sung most of my life. I studied photography in college and inherited my grandfather’s darkroom equipment. I loved developing black/white and color photographs at a time when pungent chemical baths in the darkroom made the emerging images seem magical.

As a professional journalist, I wrote and photographed for regional and national publications. National and international travel deeply inspired me with richly diverse cultures and artistic expressions. Living in an artistic Maine community sparked my experimentation with jewelry, small environments, mixed media and textural art. I also managed a performing arts theater which fed my love of music and performance art.

I began painting in earnest about 15 years ago with acrylics, working in a representational format. My artistic style began to coalesce when I fell in love with abstract art using encaustic hot wax, and cold wax with oil; architectural art forms which embody texture, layering and mark making. My paintings are primarily inspired by my natural surroundings, music, intuition and play.

Becoming an artist was not something I envisioned. It crept up on me as impressions other people had about me. Art was just something I did, which friends and family encouraged me to share. When I began to be accepted into art shows and sell my work, I gained more confidence to transition from being artistic to artist. My first one- woman show at a respected art gallery sealed my sense that what I was doing was appreciated by others.

One show led to another, and I began being accepted into galleries, shows and teaching gigs around the country. I am primarily self-taught, with many hours of watching, experimenting, learning and teaching what I have learned. Teaching continues to be an important source of growth and inspires me to keep exploring what rings true. By teaching, I learn from students’ questions, styles, experiments and the process itself. I always tell students to explore like a scientist — “What would happen if...” I love sharing the art forms I have adopted, helping students of all levels create art that is freeing and joyful.

I continue to experiment with other textural arts like rug hooking, basket making, book making and collage. In addition to painting, I find the concertina sketchbook an enticing format for wordplay and the colorful layering of a continuous story. I teach encaustic and cold wax and oil painting, collage, paper art and concertina sketchbooks.

Connecting with art communities in the several states I call “home” has brought me new friendships, support and opportunities for which I am grateful. I enjoy collaborative efforts and social gatherings with like-minded people, gaining inspiration from seeing the work and process of other artists. I am excited about being in upcoming shows and venues which include multiple art forms. If I had an art motto it would be, “If you find joy in what you create, others will also.”

From childhood finger painting to mastering the intricate layers of encaustic and cold wax, Lori Roll’s path has been one of continuous exploration and joyful discovery. Through a blend of natural inspiration, musicality, and a scientist’s curiosity, she continues to create art that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, proving that when joy is infused into creation, it naturally extends to those who experience it.

Follow Lori Roll:

Website: loriroll.com

Facebook: @lorirollartist

Instagram: @mybigbluesky