Noted artist Lisa Remeny, who lives and works in a house in Coconut Grove built in 1926, takes her phone everywhere she goes so that she can use the camera to photograph interesting bits of nature.
Altered by her imagination and expert eye, they might make it into her impressive portfolio of oil and watercolor paintings.
Remeny interprets her surroundings with bold colors that emphasize the beauty and brightness of nature. Never in doubt she always goes toward the light. Her works instill a sense of peace and happiness in the viewer. You can view her images at www.LisaRemeny.com.
Sure she has innate talent but she is well educated in this area. Remeny started studying photography in high school and continued at art school, adding filmmaking and printmaking, and earning her BFA at California College of the Arts.
Remeny also is an environmentalist and helps the community look more appealing. Take, for example, the unsightly electrical cabinets that were an eyesore at Miami Marine Stadium where the boat show tookplace recently. Remeny, who also designed the official poster for the event, wrapped the six containers with oversized prints of her work and coordinated the entire job. Now the seven-foot by six-foot by three-foot containers are works of art.
Her Coconut Grove home is one of the few older houses that have not been demolished and replaced by more modern structures. The house was designed to capture the tropical breezes as they pass through when all the windows are open. She enjoys relaxing on her couch with the cool air wafting over her and enjoying Reggae music — something she learned to love while living and working in Jamaica.
In addition to being a prolific artist, Remeny is a gourmet cook and does it all in a teeny postage stamp sized kitchen — 6 feet by 8 feet. The meals and pastries that come out of that area are amazing.
Remeny’s travels reflect how she lives. In addition to Jamaica, the Bahamas and other islands of the Caribbean, she has spent time in Japan, Hawaii and Indonesia, and therefore adopted the rule of no shoes in her house.
“It’s an Asian thing,” she said. “You don’t bring the outside inside.”
So when you visit Remeny be prepared to be amazed. And do visit — she doesn’t like to paint alone. She likes company, and if you are lucky enough lunch might be a fabulous quiche and unusual salad topped off with one of her famous brownies, a nut encrusted snapper in buerre blanc sauce, or a not ordinary roasted chicken a la Remeny, topped off with one of her famous brownies. Don’t miss a drink of her “infamous” lemon drop martinis that she makes by the pitcher.
Remeny is a one-of-a-kind woman painting one-of-a-kind tiny snatches of the beauty of nature.
