Local Artist Lisa Golightly of Kiki & Polly creates custom mixed-media portraits
Kiki & Polly has grabbed the attention of parents looking for an artistic twist for their children’s photographs. By inserting digital images of individual children’s faces into acrylic paintings, Lisa Golightly, the artist behind Kiki & Polly (kikiandpolly.com), creates modern and whimsical pieces of art that both capture the spirit and wonder of childhood and the personality of the subjects.
We met with Lisa in her NE Portland studio, where she was working on a custom carousel scene print for a family from Chicago, and asked about her inspiration for Kiki & Polly.
“I was playing with photos of my kids and I wanted to do something very individual for each of them, so the mixing of techniques was really my inspiration,” says Golightly. She was able to combine her passions for photography, painting, and her children into the unique mixed-media technique. By not limiting her final product to what gets captured in a photograph, she is able to create a one-of-a-kind piece for each child.
Clients can choose a “template” painting from the gallery on Golightly’s Kiki & Polly website. “Singin’ in the Rain” shows two kids in rain boots and an umbrella (gee, wonder where she got the inspiration for that?) and is perfect for siblings. “Follow the Leader” (shown) demonstrates the adventuresome spirit of boys, while “The Wish” showing a girl blowing a dandelion, has an airy, dreamy appeal feel. More options are available, as are custom settings like the carousel painting, for which the family wanted to commemorate a popular family outing. “The custom designs challenge me to use new colors and tie in new personality traits,” says Golightly. The baby in the image, for example, was drawn on a kangaroo as a nod to the girl’s love of snuggling.
The finished product is a gallery-ready painting on a 1.5-inch thick canvas. Sizes vary, as do prices; check the kiki and polly website for details.
www.kikiandpolly.com
