Lisa Regan

“I am a self-taught artist and business woman.  Since the beginning, I have kept my mission clear — to create positive artwork, following the belief that a joyful spirit leads to a healthier life.  And that is how I chose the name of my sculpture company, “Garden Deva”; ‘deva’ means ‘happy spirit’ in Sanskrit.  I enjoy enlivening heavy, industrial metal with whimsical, positive themes.

I have always been a creative person, writing poetry and drawing.  I thought I wanted to be a ceramic artist until everything I touched broke!  The idea to work with metal came to me in 1991, when I was working a 9 to 5 panty hose job in my mother’s manufacturing company.  The experience sparked childhood memories of my grandfather’s metal shop and it wasn’t long before I had bought a hand-held plasma torch.  I loved it immediately, drawing on the steel like drawing on paper and then cutting with the torch.  Soon I was cutting copper and aluminum as well and buffing, bending, rolling, grinding, rusting and welding my creations.

For a while, I still worked my office job as well as created my whimsical sculptures and sold them at local art festivals.  In 1996 I took the plunge — as a single mother raising four sons, I quit my office job and started my own company to create and sell my artwork full time. . .”

Lisa Regan, artist and founder of Garden Deva, has deep roots in Tulsa culture. Her single mother owned and operated businesses in Tulsa and elsewhere and Lisa developed her entrepreneurial spirit watching and admiring her successful mother in action. Mixing her natural artistic ability and desire to grow her own company made Garden Deva the perfect opportunity to combine her two passions into one!

When Lisa was a single mother of four boys, it was just a natural extension of herself to meld her creative talent with a business, and Garden Deva Sculpture (Deva means ‘happy spirit’) was born. She began creating whimsical metal sculptures in 1996, hoping to fill beautiful places with happy spirits with eventually having an opportunity to teach others through art classes Tulsa. Her art can now be found all over Tulsa; in gardens, public buildings, as well as private homes. It didn’t take long before her work was noticed on a national level. She has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, on HGTV, and Treehouse Masters as well as other media. She continues to create custom pieces and collections of her signature whimsical metal art and has branced out to painting with her signature whimsical style. She gained the attention of the U.S. Postal Service and a photo of her menorah was featured on a U.S. Postage holiday stamp.

One of Lisa’s priorities is providing support to women, especially single mothers with a passion for the arts, in their quest to fulfill their purpose and provide for their families. She is a wonderful mentor and takes her time in sharing her encouragement and what she has learned through leading art classes Tulsa.