Lisa's Biography

Lisa Rickwood was born  in Vancouver, British Columbia. Even as a child, she showed talents for art and design.

When she moved to a small rural town in the Okanagan, she discovered that employment for young people was scarce. Lisa used her entrepreneurial skills to create a small fine art painting business called 'Homescapes.' 

Lisa used photographs of people's homes to help her create oil paintings of their beloved residences. Lisa's company was very successful.

Lisa's passion for art and creativity paid off in 1985 when she won art scholarships and had a chance to pursue her dream of studying visual art.

She attended the University of Victoria and completed her Bachelor Of Fines Arts degree in 1989. It was here that she met Derek Rickwood, an aspiring artist and her future husband.

She moved to Nanaimo with Derek and they married in 1991. Derek worked as a clothier and Lisa as an advertising representative. At night, they created art commissions. 

Lisa produced 18 paintings in one year for her 1992 solo art show; all done while working full-time. This was no small feat as each pastel painting took 90 to 100 hours to complete.

Lisa's highly realistic black and white pastel paintings of men and women intrigued many viewers.

From the solo show came the evolution of a business that consisted of creating original paintings, T-shirts and art cards based on the original paintings.

The years following the show were also busy. Lisa sold original paintings, T-shirts and art cards to clients in Canada, the United States and as far away as Switzerland.

In 1993, Lisa had her first son and her efforts went into caring for him. She worked full time in advertising so her creative output slowed down as time was limited.

In 1995, she began to paint a motorcycle series based on her current artistic style. The work was slick and generated much interest. Lisa sent photographs of her work to Harley Davidson magazines in the United States. 

During this time, she also took a job as marketing consultant for a well established Vancouver Island publishing firm in 1996. She was able to utilize her artistic and written talents by producing advertisements for clients and becoming a monthly fashion columnist.

In 1997, Lisa had another son and time for art was minimal. She worked full time as an advertising representative for the same local paper where she wrote her column.

Late in 1998, Lisa was contacted by the American magazine, Asphalt Angels Magazine (formerly Harley Women Magazine). The magazine did a feature page dedicated to Lisa and her artwork. 

In July 1999, Lisa and her husband, Derek, bought a 42 year-old menswear store and became owners. They called the store Rickwood's Menswear. This was an added stress for Lisa who lacked retail store experience. Lisa managed but her stress level was always high.

Working full time with two small children didn't allow Lisa time to create artwork. Instead, she started to write more and she changed her monthly fashion features to articles about escaping life's hectic pace of life. Since she lived this hectic life, subject matter wasn't hard to find.

The feedback from readers was so positive that Lisa spent three years reading books about stress and lifestyle changes, and two years writing a book.  

Early in 2002, Lisa launched a resource site: www.escapethepace.com to promote her upcoming book and to do more test marketing of the concept. The response was favourable and each month, the number of website visitors grew.

In November, 2002, Lisa completed her self-published book, Escape The Pace:100 Fun And Easy Ways To Slow Down And Enjoy Your Life. It was a print-on-demand book at the beginning, but then Lisa produced many books and in the following year, she was picked up by a book distributor.  

Currently, Lisa is a sought after speaker and workshop coordinator. She's also actively involved in promoting the book and website.

In terms of art - that will have to be put on hold for now. Lisa's book proves to be keeping her very busy and leaving her minimal time to 'escape the pace.'

Lisa continues to finalize her book, work in advertising and create fine art. While she pursues these interests, she and her husband, Derek, will continue to work together on several ambitious art projects.