Lisa Groen's Blog

I don’t know when it was exactly that I thought memorizing poems would be a good idea. It may have been when I studied W.S. Merwin in graduate school. I read his poem Come Back when my father was dying, and repeatedly after he was gone.

You came back to us in a dream and we were not here
In a light dress laughing you ran down the slope
To the door
And knocked for a long time thinking it strange

Oh come back we were watching all the time
With the delight choking us and the piled
Grief scrambling like g...

This is the last installment of a four-part series on Love. For those taking this course, reflection questions are found in your email from The Retreat House.

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It is now the beginning of March. I began this series on love during February in honor of Valentine’s Day, but I now find myself squarely in the season of Lent—a period some describe as a 40-day love letter to God. This feels like a fitting backdrop for my final piece exploring divine love through art.

In previous weeks, I explo...

It’s been a few months since my first novel, The Cassatt Sisters , was published—a story about Impressionist Mary Cassatt. I’d like to broaden this Substack beyond the artwork of Cassatt and her Impressionist friends. (If you’re new, feel free to browse the archives for postcards from La Belle Époque.) Going forward, I’ll feature a piece of fine art (or any other creative thing) that captivates me and opens my heart. Thanks for coming along!

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This is the third of a four-part series on ...

This is the second installment of a four-part series on Love for the month of February. For those taking this course, reflection questions are found in your email from The Retreat House.

Subscribe now

Last week, I explored romantic love through the art of dance.
This week, I turn toward grief—and how art gives it form.

Grief is an extension of love: the inescapable consequence of loving deeply and then losing. Through heartbreak and separation, grief measures the depth of our attachment. Its weight ...

It’s been a few months since my first novel, The Cassatt Sisters , was published—a story about Impressionist Mary Cassatt. I’d like to broaden this Substack beyond the artwork of Cassatt and her Impressionist friends. (If you’re new, feel free to browse the archives for postcards from La Belle Époque.) Going forward, I’ll feature a piece of fine art (or any other creative thing) that captivates me and opens my heart. Thanks for coming along!

Subscribe now

This is the first of a four-part series on ...

It’s been a few months since my first novel, The Cassatt Sisters , was published—about Impressionist Mary Cassatt. I’d like to broaden this Substack beyond the artwork of Cassatt and her Impressionist friends. (If you’re new, feel free to browse the archives for postcards from La Belle Époque.) Going forward, I’ll feature a piece of fine art (or any other creative thing) that captivates me and opens my heart. Thanks for coming along!

Subscribe now

Grief. Art can accompany us here too. Bach’s cello ...

It’s been a few months since my first novel, The Cassatt Sisters , was published—about Impressionist Mary Cassatt. I’d like to broaden this Substack beyond the artwork of Cassatt and her Impressionist friends. (If you’re new, feel free to browse the archives for postcards from La Belle Époque.) Going forward, I’ll feature a piece of fine art (or any other creative thing) that captivates me and opens my heart. Thanks for coming along!

Subscribe now

It’s not lost on me that poets in Ukraine have beco...

When I learned The Cassatt Sisters is Amazon’s #1 New Release in Biographical Historical Fiction, I was over the moon. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy of my novel and made this possible! Truly, I’m grateful.

I’m thankful too for the support I had locally from friends, family, and others who came out for my book launch at The King’s English in Salt Lake City. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better night. Great turnout and questions after sharing the art of Mary Cassatt and her Impress...

I’m the author of The Cassatt Sisters: A Novel of Love and Art (October 2025). Escape into Art is a place you’ll find paintings and miscellanea about American Impressionist Mary Cassatt and her circle of artist friends, along with delicious bites from Paris during La Belle Époque, the Beautiful Age.

It’s launch day for The Cassatt Sisters! I’m celebrating its official day of publication tonight at The King’s English in Salt Lake City (my independe...

One week away from publication, below you’ll find an excerpt from chapter one of my novel, The Cassatt Sisters, which I write in first-person, as Mary Cassatt. As you open the pages of my book, you’ll escape to Belle Époque Paris, to walk along the cobblestones of Montmartre, into Cassatt’s art studio and residence. You’ll get to know Mary’s sister and closest confidant, Lydia Cassatt, along with other artists in the Impressionist circle—especially Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and Berthe Moris...