About Robin Lehto

Robin Lehto is a visual artist based in Oakland, California. She primarily works with acrylic paints, water, natural bristle brushes, canvas, light, and time.

Robin's artistic journey began with a deep appreciation for light and nature, which continue to be significant sources of inspiration. She creates light-filled, colorful abstracts, landscape paintings with rich character, and evocative illustrations layered with symbolism.

Themes of light, nature, and psychological wholeness are central to her work. She delves into the interplay between traditional playing cards and Tarot, exploring their rich symbolism. Each portrait in her series symbolizes the dual nature of familiar Royal playing cards while also evoking correspondences found in popular mystical traditions. Her landscapes and light compositions are designed to evoke new and different emotional experiences at different times of the day.

Her paintings can take anywhere from twenty minutes to more than a month to create with most pieces averaging about eight days. Robin often revisits themes such as the changing presence of a painting throughout the day and the interplay of contrasting elements in texture, brush techniques, or color. In her playing card series, this duality explores the connections between playing cards and Tarot as well as the psychological interplay between the wild and domesticated self.

Paintings like "The Queen of Swords" and "The Queen of Hearts" highlight her fascination with Tarot symbolism and narrative. Her fig tree painting, created during a period of personal illness and recovery, symbolizes the interdependence of care and well-being. The "Color Study for the Little Blackwood" reflects her practice of capturing the fleeting beauty of light and landscape. Recently, she has been creating experimental abstract studies to plan her landscape paintings, which sometimes form a compelling series on their own.

Robin's art aims to bring light and peace into spaces, encouraging long-term contemplation and appreciation. Each piece is designed to reveal new details and insights over time. She believes in the power of art to reflect and enhance our inner worlds, fostering a deeper connection with the things we love. Her intention is to convey joy, peace, comfort, and happiness through her creative works. She hopes that viewers will find ongoing enjoyment in her paintings with each viewing.

Looking forward, Robin plans to continue painting more playing cards, mountains, and landscapes of light. She is also working on a line of merchandise called one of one based on her conceptual art and illustrations and may explore other areas of craft or technology.

Robin is grateful for the time and energy she has had to create the ten works in this print drop. She has learned a great deal through the creation of these abstracts, portraits, and landscapes, and is excited to add more variety to her collection. All works presented are available for sale as prints.