By Mary Soliwoda

Whether her medium is oil on wood panel, gouache on paper, or monoprint, Lisbeth Firmin seems to have mastered them all.  Ms. Firmin is a full-time painter/printmaker who integrates her figurative American realism and impressionism with the relationship of the human figure to an urban environment.  Whether it’s “Heading Home, Havana”, or “Young Woman with Red Notebook”, or the monotype, “Wilbur Mansion, Late Afternoon” its all about light and shadow and realism that echo Edouard Manet.
Stirred by some visual event Lisbeth Firmin seeks to convey to her audience “that ever elusive emotional reaction” that makes one stop, see, feel.  Her presentation is so deft that one might think it were whipped up in a matter of hours; yet weeks or more are needed to articulate her subjects to the point where they “transcribe the real world… when light and shadow read right and are in balance”.  To step into one of her paintings is to feel the heat of the day on a Havana street, or to feel the coolness inside the shoemaker’s repair shop, or to know the extremes as in “Coming in from the Pool”.
Ms. Firmin was born in Paducah, Kentucky, lived in NYC for a time, and now resides in the small Upstate village of Franklin, NY.  She has had widespread exhibitions, from New York and New England, to New Mexico, to Washington state, and is represented in a number of galleries across the country.
One gets a strong sense of her intense enthusiasm for the work she produces as well as a sense of the high professional standard she sets.  In a career spanning three decades, she has shown her work at scores of exhibitions and garnered over twenty five awards and fellowships.  But beyond the cudos is the wonderful art.  Take the time to step firmly in Lisbeth’s world to better enjoy and appreciate your own.
In a recent interview with Lisbeth Firmin we come to a better understanding of the artist behind the masterfully rendered art.

M.S.   What most inspires your work?  Sights, sounds, nature, music, people, etc.?
L.F.    I get a direct, intense emotional reaction to some visual thing.  It’s not something I consciously control.   It just happens.  It could be a person, a vegetable, a dog—almost anything.  Then I feel compelled to paint it.  The most long-lasting emotional reaction has been to seeing people on the streets and wanting to paint them, so over the last 15 years I have concentrated on doing urban landscapes.

M.S.   What part of the process do you find most exciting or engaging?
L.F.    I love the starts, the big, bold, messy starts, where I can see the painting that emerges—before anyone else can.

M.S.   Why did you choose the manner and the materials you use in your work?
L.F.    I work in three mediums—gouache, monoprinting on an etching press, and oils.  My working with gouache began with doing small, square, urban landscapes of my own downtown neighborhood.  Later I learned monoprinting at Parson’s and worked mostly in black and white.  Then, I wanted to challenge myself…so I began working in oils, which I wrestle with to this day.

M.S.   Do you render sketches or an underpainting before you begin a project?
L.F.   Absolutely not.  I want the big surprise.

M.S.  Do you try to make your meaning transparent, or are you more subtle?
L.F.   I am a realist, aiming to transcribe the real world.  But that said, the work is not concerned with literal translation of reality in a photographic way.

M.S.   Discuss which part of the creative process you find most stressful.
L.F.   Finishing the piece—nearly always an oil painting.  People always assume, when looking at the work, that it’s done in a day or two, when in reality, it takes weeks and several passes and layers of paint.  That said, I am always trying not to lose the freshness of the beginning.

M.S.   In what way do the changing seasons affect your work?
L. F.   Winter is my season for working, though I paint every day.  I live in a very cold, wintry place with lots of snow.  It’s great to be in the studio, warmed by the pellet stove, and not distracted by outside activities.

M.S.   Have you completed works that you find difficult to part with, and why?
L.F.   No.  I am a full time working artist, and love to sell my work.  Nothing gives me more pleasure than to know a piece that I love is in good hands.  I know personally many people who have bought my paintings over the years.  They become friends in a way.  We have a connection.  However, as the work changes over time, I do try to keep one or two of every series in the studio, for myself.

M.S.   Do you take “a break”, or days away from a work while it is in process?
L.F.   Yes—for many reasons.  I teach several workshops throughout the year, though I make art while I’m teaching.  I have had to take some part time jobs here and there during slow periods, so am not in the studio every day at times—though I do try to paint every day.  When I have a new body of work growing on the wall, I need to see it completed and don’t like taking a break.

M.S.   What do you do for recreation and how does it complement your work?
L.F.   I play chess and have just started learning the Oriental game of “Go”—exercise for the brain.  –And for the body:  climbing the Catskill Mountains and riding my 10-speed up and down the hills every summer.  I feel I need to stay fit to keep painting.

M.S.   When you take a vacation how does it affect your attitude towards your work?
L.F.   I love it!  I take a break and let in some new ideas, do some new sketches.  I always travel with my sketch book.

M.S.   How do you manage to sustain your interest in work when it “isn’t working”?
L.F.   I will keep working on it for a long time.  In the old days—10 years ago—I never quit on a piece and always got it, eventually.  But now, sometimes it doesn’t start working no matter how hard I try.  So I quit, sand it down, and start another.

M.S.   When do you know that a work is finished?
L.F.   This is a tricky question.  I guess when I feel that the light and shadow read right and are in balance, and the ‘realistic’ aspect of the work—i.e. people, buildings, cars, streets, etc.—are accurate.

M.S.   In what way would you like to see your work evolve from here?
L.F.   I feel that if I just keep painting, the work evolves on its own.  That’s how it’s always been for me.

M.S.   Discuss how you create a painting—the process, the materials, the easel, etc.
L.F.   I work on custom wood panels that my framer makes for me.  I gesso them myself, cooking it up the old-fashioned way.  I use big brushes and do several really loose passes, letting the paint sink into the surface, then slowly build up the paint layers with smaller brushes.  The work is done on the wall, either by nailing the wood panel up on the wall, or by tacking my big sheets of watercolor paper on the wall.  This way I can step way back to take a look using a mirror.

M.S.   How large is your studio and what do you like best about the physical space?
L.F.   I bought my storefront upstate in 2000 because I desperately needed a bigger studio space than I had in NYC.  I love my studio.  It’s over 150 square feet with high ceilings.  I love to fill it up with new work.

M.S.   What would you like your audience to take away from viewing your works?
L.F.   That ever elusive emotional reaction to the paintings.  From the way they are painted, and the subject matter, and what’s left out.  I like to challenge the viewer—not give all the answers.

M.S.   Is there any specific contemporary of yours whose work you admire?
L.F.   I admire Ben Aronson and Stuart Shils, both contemporaries; also Fairfield Porter and Edward Hopper (of course).  –And have always wanted to paint like Edouard Manet.

M.S.   What words of encouragement or wisdom would you like to share with amateur or emerging artists?
L.F.   That old maxim about 90% perspiration (and 10% inspiration) is true.  It’s a lot of work and sacrifice—and still the most rewarding thing I think a person could do with their life.