Article By: Zak Lodhi
Before the first layer of paint is applied, before color begins to refract through the surface, Lexi Sundell understands something many artists spend a lifetime discovering: the act of creating is itself transformative. For her, the creative process has never been separate from living. It is what carried her forward through profound loss, near-death experiences, serious illness, and moments that might have otherwise defined the edges of a life.
Today, Sundell is internationally recognized for her mastery of acrylic painting, though her path to the medium was anything but immediate. As a teenager, she studied oil painting, not acrylics, under the guidance of her great-uncle, professional artist Marvin Lenschow, and initially resisted acrylics entirely. Oils possessed the depth and fluidity she loved; acrylics felt unfamiliar, even limiting. Everything shifted when curiosity replaced comparison.
Rather than asking acrylics to behave like oils, Sundell began exploring what they could achieve on their own. Through layered pigments, clear gels, and textured materials such as pumice, she discovered a way to manipulate light within the painting itself. Illumination moves through her work rather than sitting on its surface, creating a luminosity rarely associated with the medium. That exploration helped establish her as a leading voice in acrylic technique. It led to the publication of two widely respected books, including Creating Exceptional Color in Acrylics. Yet her artistic life has never been confined to a single form. Over the years, she has worked in clay, metal sculpture, jewelry design, and precision wax carving, becoming one of North America’s most accomplished specialists in the discipline.
It was, however, an unexpected moment that would alter her sense of scale entirely. Lexi survived a life-threatening systemic infection. When she returned to the studio, wildlife began appearing across her canvases in bold, jewel-like tones. Living in Montana offers constant access to animals in their natural habitat, and the vast terrain, particularly Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley, continues to inform her visual language. The wildlife and the environment itself are becoming her subjects. Moons frequently appear in her compositions as subtle metaphors. A moon reflects only the light it receives, much as a painting reveals what each viewer brings to the experience.
Sundell’s work has earned significant recognition. The C.M. Russell Museum has selected her paintings for exhibition, the Yellowstone Art Museum has featured her work, and her paintings have appeared in numerous invitational and juried shows.
Today, they reside in collections across the United States and internationally. Yet accolades alone do not explain the emotional resonance of her work. Years of artistic inquiry led Sundell to articulate what she believes are the three essential components of the creative process: inspiration, technical mastery, and an often-overlooked third element, inner transformation.
Whenever something is shaped externally, she suggests, something shifts internally as well. If we pause long enough to recognize those changes, they remain with us, informing whatever comes next.
Now, Arizona draws her back. Having lived in the state previously, she finds renewed inspiration in its dramatic skies and desert life. Visitors can currently experience her work at the Arizona Fine Art Expo, where the layered surfaces and radiant color reveal themselves most fully in person.
Spend time with a Lexi Sundell painting and one feeling rises above the rest: joy. Not the fragile kind, but one forged through resilience and creative devotion.
For Sundell, art is more than expression. It is renewal, rendered vividly in color. Each canvas carries the quiet assurance that even life’s most difficult passages can give way to radiance, and that through the act of creating, something broken can become profoundly whole again.
For more information, to view available works, or to inquire about commissions, visit
