 ARTIST'S STATEMENT I was raised by a very practical mother and for many years didn't believe that impractical things like art should be pursued. I did a couple of painting classes and a pottery class in college to fill up those extra curricular credits and absolutely loved them, but didn't follow up with anything past those classes. I even did student work for the art department, filling, cleaning the pottery lab, hosting senior art exhibitions, and even modeling for drawing classes; but I set all that aside when I left college so that I could "grow up" and get a "real" job. In 2001, while going through my divorce, I felt a deep need to be creative. An acquaintance of mine owned a framing store and hosted occasional art classes. I decided to take a drawing class. The act of creating drawings struck a cord down deep within me and I started trying some different artsy crafty endeavors. It wasn't until 2003 that I found quilting when my three sisters, Sylvia, Brenda and Ledra, joined me on an outing in Princeton, Illinois. We visited a quilt store and each bought a pattern to make. We thought it would be fun to have a hobby in common. My pattern was a log cabin table runner. Although, I kept quilting after that day, that particular pattern wasn't finished for three years and I donated it to my guild's small quilt auction; it just wasn't my style. In the Spring of 2005, I attended my first major show, International Quilt Festival, in Chicago, IL. That show opened my eyes to a whole new world of quilting: art quilts. Since then, my quilting has evolved from your traditional grandma's quilt, meant to warm you on a winter's night, into a brilliant expression of my subconscious mind. My quilts can express my emotions better than I can with even the most carefully chosen words. The “no rules” approach to the art quilt is both freeing and exhilarating and I totally lose myself in the creative process.
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| BIOGRAPHY Lisa is deeply involved in her local guild, Covered Bridge Quilt Guild, having held several positions, and is currently the guild's Co-President. Lisa lives in Princeton, Illinois, with her Jack Russell Terrier, Moose, and cat, Jenny. |