My Life is a Wagon Wheel
Huginn & Muninn mixed media on wood panel 24×48″
My life is a wagon wheel. What? A wagon wheel? Now hear me out. Those of you who have followed me for a while know, I am an artistic nomad – mixed media, encaustic, collage, painting, fabric art, quilting, clothing design. Sometimes I wish I could just stick with one thing. Maybe if I stuck with one thing, I would get really good at it, right? Focus for heaven’s sake! Find my inner Monet and paint a lily pond or hay stack over and over. I guess it’s obvious I’m no Monet, but I do love to make and create. If I don’t have a creative outlet, I’m a bear to live with, just ask my family. So here is my wheel analogy. Creativity, creative forces (perhaps God even?) is the center of the wheel. I am on the outer rim and each spoke of the wheel is a way in. I have to think and problem solve and imagine and create my way to the center. So each endeavor gives me another slice of my creative center, each attempt gets me closer to the whole or at least I’m betting on it working that way because that is who I am. Even if sometimes it is crazy making to juggle all these balls maybe one day one of those balls will plop down on my head and say “concentrate on me, go down my spoke only” but until then I will keep rolling on my wagon wheel theory of life.
This is a way to show you some of the things I’ve been working on – you may have noticed that I’m not walking down the blogging spoke of the wheel as often as I used to, here are a few reasons why.
Teaching:
workshop making icons for All Souls day at Incarnation Church in Santa Rosa
2 day workshop creating Guardian Angels at The Bishop’s Ranch.
Writing:
My latest article in Quilting Arts Magazine on creating fabric by the yard from small mono prints. Purchase magazine
Making: (see ravens at top of article)
Mother Bear mixed media collage on canvas panel 11×14″
Art quilt part of a challenge donation put out by Quilting Arts magazine to give as gifts to homeless folks transitioning to permanent housing. 14×14″
Entrepreneurial endeavors:
My work at Gallery 300 at The Barlow in Sebastopol CA
Me, my print maker son Ivan, and blacksmith husband Jack at our Family Art Sale at The Bishop’s Ranch
My line of Cashmere and Modal Scarves go to my website to see detail pictures and to purchase – Website
WOW- that’s a lot even for me! I’m always looking for new places to teach and share my creative energy so if you have any ideas for me let me know. Soon I’ll catch you up on my workshops in 2019.
Judy Markoff
Lisa…….
Your wagon wheel analogy really hit home with me! I do almost everything you do and I have often had the same thoughts about doing just one thing really well. However, I realize that knowing and doing all the arts are sometimes combined making that one skill into a multi-skilled art endeavor (incorporating your paintings into encaustic…..or prints into hand made books or paintings and prints into quilts……I’ve come to appreciate the ability and knowledge of many creative endeavors and how they add to my life and art. Keep on doing exactly what you are doing and don’t ever despair!
molmsteado
I love that you have all those spokes! I can even think of a few more but each spoke influences its neighbor leading to richer and more exciting spokes. I cannot imagine you sticking to one thing…. you are too interesting for that!
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