Permission to play, encouragement to be astonished
October 2024
‘Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.’ ~ Mary Oliver
Hi! How are you? I’m so glad you’re here.
If I ever get to the point where it seems like too much work, or it’s just too late and I’ll be too tired in the morning to go out and chase the Northern Lights, I will look at this photo and remember what it felt like to stand in the darkness of a back road with the car lights off, on a warm autumn night, with one of my nearly-grown children and be in complete, literal awe. I know I will feel in my bones “mom, put down the camera and just look”. I will remember dropping my arms and raising my eyes upward and seeing the colors, more faint than in the camera lens, but alive. My jaw slack, the sky undulating above our heads. A perfect moment. A reminder of what’s really important.
Listen, we’re all too busy. Many of us will probably be tired in the morning anyway. If you get to chase the Northern Lights, do it. Promise me you’ll do it. Not just once, but every time you get the chance. It’s worth it.
With gratitude, Lisa
Permission to play
This past weekend I had the pleasure of teaching an amazing group of women how to monoprint and make snowy collages with their pretty papers. These are busy, successful, community-focused women who took some time to give themselves permission to play. They tried something new, fearlessly, and the results were almost as gorgeous as they are.
A theme kept coming up… “this is not what I expected or planned but look how beautiful it is.”
Indeed.
“Lil fish studios inspires so many 'artists at heart' to try something new and have fun flexing their creative muscle. I learned so much from Lisa during our arty party. Highly recommend! ~ recent class participant, Lisa H
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I love encouraging people in their creative process. I’m slowly opening up timeslots for classes.
If you are interested in getting a few friends together for a group class, or want to join in when I have publicly available classes please contact me for details at the email address at the bottom of the page.
I am also looking for opportunities or places to teach in the Twin Cities metro and Duluth areas, if you know of any.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep working on my studio space in hopes that it will welcome creatives soon! (creatives who are comfortable with friendly dogs and the pitter patter of gigantic teenager feet)
Monoprinting?
I mention the process of monoprinting my papers often, but what does that mean? Basically, it means that I’m using a print-making method that yields one unique print. In my case, I’m rolling out acrylic paints on a gelli plate and picking them up with paper. As I work, colors get left behind and start to create really textural, interesting prints.
I have a brief reel on my instagram page that will give you a little peek at what I do.
Always an Artist mini paint palette necklace
You are always an artist, even when you’re not making art. I shaped this tiny paint palette from a piece of balsa wood and painted it to look like a well-used tool. It is very lightweight and coordinates nicely with paint-stained overalls and a cup of paint water.
The pendant measures approximately 1.75 inches long by 1.5 inches wide and is hung on an adjustable leather cord.
$25.00
Locals - buying my art? Save on postage. I offer free in-person delivery in the BLA!
I’ll be pulling some of my online shop inventory out while I prepare for upcoming events. If there’s something you’ve been looking at, you may want to grab it now, or come see me!
Upcoming Art Markets
I will have my work in two local art markets. If you’re in the area, please stop out and say hi, and please bring your friends!
Nov. 30th 1:00pm - 8:00 - Winter Market at Roundhouse Brewery, Nisswa
Dec. 7th 9:00am - 11:00 - (the usual art kids) at Coco Moon, Brainerd
I will have new original pieces, jewelry, ornaments, and kits. There will also be nutcrackers, totally unique art, blown glass, and other awesomeness, just in time for gift-giving.
At the risk of sounding like an infomercial
As someone who goes through life with green paint stuck under her nails on the regular, I am pretty excited to have found this stuff at Blick.
It goes on almost like a hand cream, and when it dries you can’t really feel it. The magic is when you wash your hands, the majority of the paint goes with it, easy peasy. It doesn’t help my clothes (all my clothes are paint clothes) or stop the random bits of paint that show up on my arms or in my hair, but it’s a nice tool to have on hand. (pun intended)
Play
Many years ago, when I had buckets of old buttons, I made this tree. I didn’t glue it down, it wasn’t a piece of art, it was just a moment of play before it was swept off the table.
Whatever play looks like for you, I hope you allow yourself some of it in the coming month. If you feel like sharing, drop me a line. We’re making our own “play list” here in preparation for winter, and we’d love some inspiration.
Thank you for reading. It means the world to me.
I’ll be back next month with more updates. In the meantime I’ll be posting on instagram and facebook, working on pollinator pieces, getting ready for my holiday markets, and hopefully booking some classes. I hope you’ll join me, and if you think someone else may enjoy my work, I’d be grateful if you’d share with them.
p.s. I may send an email when I get a class schedule put together. I don’t want to spam you so I promise I won’t send many.
Thank you!
Have questions? Email me at lisa@lilfishstudios.com
