Lisa Bisbee: Artist Highlight

For our first installment of the Gapka Artist Highlight series, we spoke with painter Lisa Bisbee about her process, her inspirations, and how she uses Gapka’s fluorescent oils to capture the energy of New York City and London.

Q: What inspires your work right now?

Lisa: My work is inspired by the vibrant energy and unique character of city life, especially in New York and London. I find creativity in the thrill of exploring these urban landscapes—from their iconic landmarks to the everyday moments that make them special.

Q: Your colors are so bold and dreamlike. Where does that come from?

Lisa: I’m influenced by Fauvism and its use of unreal, expressive color. Gapka’s fluorescent pigments help me bring a magical feeling to the city scenes I paint. I thin the fluorescents with oil into glazes, so they catch in the textures of the canvas and create shades you can’t mix on the palette. It’s a way of making color feel alive.

Q: Can you talk about your process?

Lisa: My paintings are highly textural. I rework, erase, scrub, outline, and add layer upon layer until the energy feels right. The grooves in the surface hold on to those fluorescent glazes, creating unique harmonies or contrasts. I’m always looking for how color can either quiet a space or draw the eye to a focal point.

Q: What are you working on now?

Lisa: Lisa: I just finished a series of small, framed oil paintings of New York, London, Boston and Singapore that will be shown with Signet Contemporary Art Gallery at Affordable Art Fairs. The subjects include Big Ben, the red London phone booth, a double-decker bus, and New York’s Empire State Building.

• Affordable Art Fair Boston (October 24-25, 2025)
• Affordable Art Fair Singapore (November 14-16, 2025)
  

Q: What do you hope people feel when they see your paintings?

Lisa: Immense joy. When someone smiles in front of one of my paintings, I feel so grateful. My work is a celebration of the city’s beauty and rhythm—turning even overlooked or gritty scenes into something bright, fun, and full of wonder.

At Gapka, we love seeing artists like Lisa experiment with our materials in fearless, personal ways. Her work is a reminder that fluorescent pigments aren’t just bold—they can hold memory, movement, and meaning too.

Follow Lisa on Instagram: @lisabisbeeart

Works by Lisa Bisbee:

Piccadilly Circus
DoubleDecker Bus
London, England, UK
Oil Painting Series using Gapka's fluorescent oil paints
2024-2025
9 x 12 inches
22.86 x 30.48 cm
Artist Lisa Bisbee
B0684

Story: "Hold my hand!" I remember my grandmother saying as we crossed the street. I didn't want to, thinking I was old enough being eleven. She was ever insistent and that irked me so I bit my tongue and held her hand since her tone was harsh. The junction of traffic was bustling. The cars were flying by and it must have scared her thinking about my safety, I know that now. She cared about me. These London paintings bring me closer to her, like a time-machine, going back. 

In my painting, the double-decker bus is really vivid using Gapka's fluorescent oil paints. I’m trying to make that red as juicy as possible. I spent about a half of an hour blending the background. It takes forever, You wouldn’t know it, but I guess I’m a perfectionist.

Seneca Ave Station
View of the Empire State Building
Queens, New York City 
Oil Painting Series using Gapka's fluorescent oil paints
12x12"
2022-2024
Artist Lisa Bisbee
B0649

Story: Big anticipation of an adventure seeing the view of the Empire State Building from Seneca Avenue Subway Station in Queens. Because the station is above ground, the view of Manhattan is incredible. There's me the artist snapping photos wherever I go,  since I use those photos as reference when I get back to the studio. We were headed to the big city to see some art of course. Up and down Chelsea full of galleries stacked door to door.

K6 Telephone Box
Red Phone Booth
2 Craven Street
London, England, UK
Oil Painting Series using Gapka's fluorescent oil paints
2024-2025
9 x 12 inches
22.86 x 30.48 cm
Artist Lisa Bisbee
B0688

Story: The vivid red comes from Gapka, mixing fluorescent orange, pink and magenta. In the old days, purple used to be one of the most expensive pigments so royalty would use it. Purple is perfect for this imperial telephone booth and Gapka's fluorescent yellow for the crown. I like how it came out; the colors and all that texture.

Big Ben 
Clock Tower Close-up
London, England, UK
Oil Painting Series using Gapka's fluorescent oil paints
2024-2025
9 x 12 inches
22.86 x 30.48 cm
Artist Lisa Bisbee
B0687

Story: The style of this Victorian-lace architecture is absolutely intricate adding 1,0000 details to the structure with tiny elements everywhere: curly cues, dots, zigzags, wavy lines. It looks like candy with Gapka's bright colors.