Studying the paintings of the European Impressionists, the American Abstract Expressionists, designing stained glass and sewing were Lily's initial artistic interests.
At the Rhode Island School of Design she explored painting, art history and printmaking while immersing herself in the music of Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Erskin Hawkins and Dave Baker (to name a few). Her obsession with improvisational jazz and her love for gardening and gathering wildflowers effected and eventually defined her creative process and subject matter. MacCallan says she paints with the wind and the sunshine in her brushes. Most of her art work has been commissioned for private collections.