Margaret Lipsey
My practice has become about embracing the entirety of my emotional experiences and the entirety of myself. My challenge and my goal is to create work that helps the viewer embrace the validity, the beauty, and the power in their emotions and recognize the constant movement of emotions when we allow them to flow through us.
I explore the intensity of movement, the subtle or dramatic contrast in color, and the effects of layering texture and movement to create a fuller response. My experience in the studio is focused on being completely in an emotion and letting it direct the paint on the canvas. It is allowing the rage to become beautiful, allowing the sadness to provide comfort, and giving happiness an opportunity to shine without being tarnished.
Contact
www.margaretlipsey.com
margaret.lipsey@yahoo.com
@margaretlipseyart
Interview
What inspires your art practice and keeps you motivated?
My practice is grounded in emotional translation, taking what’s felt and giving it form through color, texture, and movement. I’m constantly asking: What am I feeling? And how does that feeling move? There’s a rhythm to the studio process, a kind of dance that excites me. But it’s often in the quiet after a piece is finished that I discover the deeper meaning. That moment of contemplation inevitably opens the door to a new inquiry, a new exploration. Curiosity is what drives me; each painting leads to the next, and seeing the work of other artists fuels the question: What could I try next? What haven’t I said yet?
How does your mission as an artist influence the work you create?
I’m committed to creating work that honors the truth of women’s emotional lives, especially the complexity of midlife. As a woman in my fifties, I carry the weight of unspoken stories: exhaustion from over-giving, pain from being unseen, and the fierce longing to reclaim what’s been lost. My mission is to express those truths on canvas, not to explain or justify them, but to make space for them and to say, you’re not alone.
Can you share a key part of your creative process that helps you stay focused?Staying close to other artists keeps me focused, but not out of comparison—out of reverence. I’m fascinated by how differently we see, how uniquely we interpret the same prompt or material. Watching someone follow their own rabbit hole reminds me to stay devoted to mine. It’s not about speed or output; it’s about depth and perspective. That shared creative energy keeps me aligned and inspired.
What mindset tip do you rely on to overcome challenges in your art career?Meditation and Reiki have both taught me that presence is everything. This moment—not next week, not next year—is the only one I can shape. Whether I am being celebrated or rejected is not the end of the story; it is the beginning of the next chapter, and I can choose to keep going. When I focus on being aligned with my decisions and actions today, I can trust those seeds will grow tomorrow’s harvest.
How do you hope your art impacts the world or your community?
I want my work to reflect people where they are—in grief, in rage, in joy—and remind them that all of it is part of becoming. I hope it gives them permission to feel fully, to scream if they need to, to own their power instead of suppressing it. I want my paintings to act as mile markers for personal growth, visual reminders that say, You lived through that. You’re still here. You’re becoming more. I want my work to remind people that we are connected by more than just a love of color; we are connected by our experiences, our emotions, and our desire for expansion.
