Lisa Rachel Horlander grew up in sunny California but migrated to East Texas at the impressionable age of 8. She grew up under grand old trees and magnificent skies, which ignited her imagination and inspired in her a desire to capture those moments of awe.

As soon as she received her Associate’s degree in Fine Art, at Tyler Junior College in 2009, she started showing her paintings everywhere she could, from close to home in East Texas all the way to Rochester, NY. She found freelance work for advertising companies, started her own online art shop, and began teaching private art lessons. She discovered a love for sharing art with all ages and decided to pursue a career as a professor.

She will be getting her BFA at the University of Texas at Tyler Spring 2017. She received the Chris Lyon Scholarship in 2016, the Art Excellence scholarship in 2015, was Mayor Barbara Bass’s Artist of the year in 2013, helped start the Artist Association of UT Tyler in 2016 and is the Vice President, was the art club president for the UT Tyler Art Club in 2015, and President and co-founder for the Tyler Junior College Art Club in 2004.

In her spare time, she enjoys exploring storm drains with her son, being a taste tester for her husband’s culinary experiments, and herding their 3 cats.