Lysa Karell

THE ARTIST

Lysa Karell is a painter, figurative artist, portraitist, illustrator, essayist, and teacher of classical fine arts. Her work belongs to a long tradition of representational drawing and painting while developing a distinct personal identity strongly shaped by portraiture, oil painting, religious painting, and Symbolist realism.

She is first and foremost an artist of the human figure. The face, gaze, expression, and beauty of the model occupy a central place in her portraits, where mastery of drawing and painting serves a precise, expressive, and living representation. This pursuit extends into her work in animal portraiture and into compositions inspired by mythology and Christian iconography.

Oil painting forms the core of her practice. Her work is grounded in the study of drawing, anatomy, proportion, light, and modelling, with particular attention to the quality of representation and the character of the subject. Sacred painting also holds an important place in her work. Her Catholic faith leads her to explore Christ, the saints, biblical narratives, and the great traditions of Christian iconography, pursuing a personal investigation into the representation of the divine.

As an artist, teacher, and essayist, Lysa Karell also pursues an independent study of art history. The study of historical works, their contexts, symbols, and traditions informs her artistic practice as much as her teaching and writing.

Her identity is also connected to a family heritage comprising Irish and Franco-German roots, as well as an ancient Indigenous ancestry connected to the First Nations of North America. This family history forms part of her memory and of her relationship with nature, the living world, and the land.

HUMAN PORTRAITURE

Human portraiture is one of the great genres of painting. Within this tradition, Lysa Karell develops a portrait practice devoted to realism and figurative painting, with a particular commitment to fidelity to the model.

For her, resemblance becomes the starting point for a work that seeks to recover the person behind the image. The face retains its character, the gaze seems to retain its movement, and the expression remains natural. This quality of life lies at the heart of her realistic portraits, where the precision of drawing and painting allows the subject to appear genuinely present.

Through both oil painting and drawing, Lysa Karell approaches the artistic portrait as a work in its own right, continuing the great traditions of figure painting.

ANIMAL PORTRAITURE

Lysa Karell is also a painter and portraitist specializing in realistic animal portraiture. This dimension of her work developed from close observation of the living world and a deep interest in the individuality of each subject.

Her works seek to capture far more than appearance. Each animal is studied for what is truly its own: its physiognomy, character, and distinctive features that make it immediately recognizable. Fur, plumage, body structure, and expression contribute to a faithful representation without ever losing the quality of life that makes the subject unmistakably itself. Graphite, pastel, and oil painting allow her to work with both companion animals and wild species. Fidelity to the model remains essential, accompanied by an interpretive approach that seeks to recover the individuality of the animal rather than simply reproduce its species.

This practice took on a deeply personal dimension through Daividh Gilmour, her Shetland Sheepdog, whose presence accompanied the development of Lysa Karell as an animal portraitist. Today, this part of her work remains present alongside her major oil painting projects.

INFLUENCES

Sandro Botticelli remains the foundational reference of Lysa Karell’s artistic world. His ideal of beauty, the grace of his figures, the harmony of his compositions, and his singular ability to bring together earthly beauty, poetry, and spiritual dimension deeply inform her vision.

Gustave Moreau is among the artists who have profoundly shaped her imagination. The symbolic richness of his work, his relationship with mythology, the sacred, and literature, as well as his ability to create worlds in which every figure seems to carry a story, strongly resonate with Lysa Karell’s sensibility. Alexandre Cabanel informs her pursuit of idealized beauty, human representation, and the nobility of portraiture. Leonardo da Vinci inspires her study of the body, anatomy, and sfumato, particularly in the treatment of transitions between light and shadow, while Albrecht Dürer informs her approach to drawing and observation.

Carlo Crivelli, Fra Angelico, Alphonse Mucha, Pierre-Joseph Redouté, and Gustave Doré further broaden this artistic heritage. Crivelli for the power of his symbolism and the richness of his compositions; Fra Angelico for the spiritual dimension of painting; Mucha for the elegance of his figures and the unity of beauty and ornament; Redouté for his refined study of the natural world; and Doré for the imaginative power of his graphic work, particularly his illustrations for Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The Baroque also enriches this research through its dramatic intensity, luminous contrasts, and ability to give representation a theatrical force. Caravaggio represents one of its most striking expressions through his treatment of light and human presence. The Pre-Raphaelite movement resonates with her attraction to idealized beauty, ancient narratives, literature, poetry, and the great female figures of the nineteenth century.

Within illustration and animated imagery, Eyvind Earle brings a distinctive dimension to this artistic heritage. His work, particularly that developed for Sleeping Beauty, resonates with her interest in stylized silhouettes, imaginary landscapes, geometric compositions, and the evocative power of the image.

These references are joined by ancient sculpture, sacred iconography, Mediterranean cultures, maritime legends, and traditions in which death becomes passage, continuity, and transformation.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Lysa Karell’s artistic practice has developed between academic study and autodidactic exploration. Her training in drawing and painting developed under Canadian, American, French, Lebanese, British, Brazilian, and Cartagenian teachers, strengthening her command of classical values and painting techniques.

Additional studies in art history include a program covering the major periods of art history, with certification validated by Sorbonne University, as well as training in Indigenous art through the Department of Art History at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), undertaken in partnership with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Her training also includes specialized studies with the RMN–Grand Palais and the Centre Pompidou.

Lysa Karell continues her professional development through ongoing study, regularly deepening her knowledge and practice of the fundamental principles of the fine arts.

Her current research places particular emphasis on Italian Renaissance painters, sacred imagery, Christian traditions, and theological thought as applied to art, with particular attention to major representations of Christ, biblical narratives, and the aesthetic codes that shaped devotional painting throughout the centuries.

DEL VENTO ACADEMIA

Founder and owner of Del Vento Academia, Lysa Karell brings her experience in teaching, managing art schools, and directing galleries to an academy devoted to the classical fine arts.

Del Vento Academia extends Lysa Karell’s artistic practice through teaching devoted to drawing and painting within the classical academic tradition. For more than a decade, Lysa Karell has taught the foundations of drawing, painting, human portraiture, and animal portraiture, with an approach grounded in observation, precision, and an understanding of image construction.

The Academia offers structured and progressive programs designed to guide students from the acquisition of fundamentals to the development of a confident and independent practice. This progression follows an academic approach to learning, in which each stage builds upon the knowledge and skills acquired previously. Programs are available to students worldwide, allowing them to study with Lysa Karell directly from their place of residence, without having to travel to the Bottega Del Vento, her studio.

Art history also accompanies certain programs through the study of artists, works, and major periods that have shaped the traditions of drawing and painting. This dimension places artistic practice within its historical continuity and deepens the understanding of artistic choices, influences, and visual languages.

Through Del Vento Academia, Lysa Karell develops a demanding approach to artistic education, in which technical mastery is acquired through study, practice, and an understanding of the fundamental principles of the fine arts.

THE LAST VENUS

La Dernière Vénus constitutes the essayistic and historical dimension of Lysa Karell’s work, devoted to the Old Masters, art history, and the great traditions of representation.

Born from her study of Sandro Botticelli, the Florentine Renaissance, and the figure of Simonetta Vespucci, the project explores the works, artists, and ideas that run through the history of painting, particularly where art encounters faith, mythology, literature, philosophy, and symbolic thought.

Through her writings and mini-classes, Lysa Karell shares her research into the works, artists, periods, and traditions that inform her own artistic practice. These materials take the form of reflections, analyses, and studies devoted to individual works as well as to masters, movements, or questions related to art history.

The mini-classes presented on social media offer an introduction to this research, while more extensive studies may be developed within Del Vento Academia. La Dernière Vénus thus establishes a resonance between the works under study and the artist’s own perspective, between historical knowledge and the experience of creation.

ENGAGEMENTS

Lysa Karell’s art is grounded in a commitment to respect, education, and responsibility. Over the years, she has supported various causes connected to biodiversity conservation, animal welfare, and human dignity, including contributions to WWF-Canada, the CHU Sainte-Justine Foundation, and La Maison d’Ariane, an organization supporting women and children affected by domestic violence. As part of her artistic and philanthropic commitments, she has also devoted part of her creative work to young patients at Sainte-Justine Hospital, developing hundreds of illustrations as a tribute to their courage and resilience.

Her commitment is now evolving toward a growing focus on ocean conservation and marine biodiversity. This direction reflects her longstanding interest in the living world, animal species, and ecosystems that have informed her artistic imagination. She seeks to progressively align her philanthropic work with a broader commitment to protecting the natural world, with particular attention to marine environments and the species that inhabit them.