Nashville, TN – March, 2012

Venezuelan-raised artist Lisa Rivas announced today that she will be a first-time exhibitor at this year’s SURTEX show held May 20–22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Lisa Rivas may be a SURTEX newbie, but she’s a seasoned practitioner of creative thinking, surface design know-how, and real-world computer skills.

Visitors to her booth #463 will be mesmerized and delighted with Lisa’s collections composed of jewel-like color, expressive fine line, and creative layering of patterns and shapes inspired by Nature.

“I’ll be presenting four collections at SURTEX,” relates the artist. “Each one is distinctive in theme, style, and how I created it. Some are created digitally, some by hand. Yet each is founded in my appreciation of the deep beauty and wonders of Nature.”

The artist has always been intrigued by color, design, and grace. Pursuing those interests earned Lisa several degrees and professional credentials: a Graphic Design degree from the Instituto de Diseño Hans Neumann in Caracas, Venezuela; a BFA in Fiber from the Memphis College of Art in Tennessee; and graduate work in Textiles at the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Smithville, TN, and in Painting at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Eventually, Lisa merged her two loves—surface design and painting—that captured the attention of galleries and collectors, leading to a successful career in the fine arts world of professional galleries and museum exhibitions. Along the way, Lisa added computer expertise to her skill set, opening new possibilities for creating her original imagery.

Lisa’s belief that motifs from her artworks could be used as surface designs came to fruition most recently in 2011. Liberty Bottleworks in Yakima, WA, licensed six of her designs. They were best sellers for the company; and in 2012 the company requested two additional Rivas designs for production.

Lisa has been a visitor to SURTEX on two previous occasions, most recently the 2011 show, and realized that “SURTEX is definitely the ‘big time’.” As for her first foray as a SURTEX exhibitor, the artist says, “I’m certainly excited about the prospect of presenting my work at the Show, meeting art buyers, licensees, manufacturers, and artist peers, and getting my foot in the door.” And then she adds, “And I will be really thrilled to see my art on products, out in the real world.”