Rhapsody Arts West
Lisa Magrane Artist Bio

I’ve always been an artist and had a passion for creating since I was a child. Following my BFA from The School of Visual Arts in NYC and my MFA at Hunter College (CUNY) I taught ceramics in Brooklyn to middle schoolers. I moved into a career in computer graphics when the internet arrived, doing website development and computer graphics. Although I was creating art during this time, it wasn’t a career.
After years in the tech world, I had the desire to get back to creating with my hands–getting dirty! That’s when I opened my custom cake business and successfully ran it for 10 years. Rhapsody Cakes, located in LI, NY. Although I don’t love baking, I enjoyed designing and sculpting cakes. I got good at it, and still get calls from former clients begging for cake, even after having moved to Arizona 5 years ago! I loved getting my hands into chocolate clay and making it come to life. The long hours had me spending lots of time in the shop and on the road, away from family. My husband and I decided to make the move to AZ in 2016, so I left the cake making & deliveries to others and began back on my artistic journey–the kind you can’t eat.
I’ve been painting and creating since we’ve moved to Arizona, with my new art business name of Rhapsody Arts West. I’m enjoying the freedom to create freely without a deadline or specific customer “order” as the cake business dictated. I do miss seeing people’s faces when they finally saw their special cake. It was truly a wonderful feeling to be able to make someone happy with cake!
In my work I’m trying to capture movement in a scene, or the stillness of an animal– some aspect of nature–the undulation of a landscape, the bold color of a flower–frozen in a moment at the peak of its beauty. I want to inspire the feeling of being in a beautiful and vibrant instant in a garden, the essence of an animal–movement, bold color and vibrant scenes–captured in a moment of lighting, the glow from beneath and from the sun.

I’m now a full-time artist, working in my home studio. I’m back to my roots in fine art and enjoy creating it as well as creating inspiration for the viewers of my art.