Lisa Grob
Biography
Art has always been part of my life. I grew up with a crayon, paint brush or pastel in my hand. Coloring books and crayons were an integral part of my formative years and were replaced by pads of blank paper, then oils and canvases. My first oil painting was done in paint-by-numbers. At the time, I was five years old.
I never had any formal art training. Rather, I learned by reading art books and through the trial and error method. While I attending college, where I majored in Biology, I purchased books on every aspect of painting, design and composition and studied them. In 1974, after three years of teaching high school Biology in Edison, New Jersey, I decided I needed a change of pace and joined the FBI as a Special Agent. I was the 24th female to complete new agents training in Quantico, Virginia. My first office was Dallas, Texas. Seven months later, I was transferred to the New York Office where I remained for 10 years working investigations concerning foreign counterintelligence, then organized crime as both a street and undercover agent. In 1981, I was transferred to Washington, D.C. as a headquarters supervisor. In 1994, I became a field supervisor in the Newark, New Jersey Division. In 1997, I became a Assistant Special Agent in charge of the Division’s violent crime, terrorist and foreign counterintelligence programs.
With each transfer, I brought my easel, oil paints and brushes with me as part of my household goods. My painting opportunities were limited since I never knew when I would be called out. On rare occasions, I was able to set aside a weekend to do nothing else but paint. My art served as a means of escape from the rigors of my professional life. Through my art, I could enter a world I created on canvas.
In 1998, when I retired from the FBI, I was able to return to my first love – art - and focused on honing my skills as a professional artist. By this time, I had discovered the freedom and spontaneity of watercolor. For the past 10 years, I have worked only in this media.
