I’ve just published my hourly illustrated journal from July 2017, entitled “Waking Hours in the Life of a Wanderer”.
You can preview the entire work below, and purchase your own copy here:
Earlier this year, I started attending a figure drawing session at Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica. For a couple of months I attended weekly, then took a break for the summer, and came back this fall again for weekly sessions.
I will be posting more selections from my work as I look back at these drawings (now sitting in a pile on the floor of my studio or in a large drawing pad), but here are five from yesterday’s session.
If you’ve been following my Instagram or Facebook posts, you’ll know that I had a weeklong period of rest during October, brought on by a serious respiratory virus that knocked me down completely. I found myself feeling extreme gratitude for even one breath. Everything slowed down. I could not “do” anything except focus on breathing for several days.
The gift was that I became aware of a deeper current running through my life and my work right now. I remembered the reason I make art. I felt my soul’s hunger for the food of nourishment provided by PLAY, which is the quality that led me to my visual art practice in the first place, back in 2013. Continue reading
It’s here! I’m so excited to unveil the collection of prints available *only* to Patreon patrons at the $10/month level or above. The reward for this level of patronage is the selection of one print from this collection each year! Check out all the new prints here.
To select your print, visit the store, and add the item to your cart. The default shipping option will be “Pickup”. I will be in touch to arrange for free shipping, pickup or delivery of your patrons-only print.
Additional prints, from this collection or from the full 2017 collection, are available to patrons ($10/month level or above) at 10% off, by entering the code “PATREON10” at checkout.
THANK YOU for believing in my work and supporting me in the most tangible way!
Want to become a patron? Want to tell your friends about becoming a patron too? You can! Visit http://patreon.com/lisachu
Patreon is a global community of artists and their patrons — that means people like you and me. Through this site, you can make a monthly donation in support of my ongoing work, and discover other independent artists and opportunities to support their ongoing work. Unlike project-based crowdfunding sites you may already know about (like Kickstarter), which are designed to raise large amounts of money for a single project, Patreon is designed to cultivate long-term patrons of artists’ work, with monthly amounts to fit any budget.
This is a bold new model in the quest to keep artists independently creating and sharing work with more people, not just collectors but anyone in the world who has access to the internet.
It’s a way to pay people directly for their work. Work that you personally enjoy or benefit from in some way, or work you simply believe in. It’s a way for you to vote with your dollars, at whatever level works for you. It’s a virtual tip jar where you can symbolically high five, offer encouragement, and say to your favorite independent artist, “Keep going! I love you!”.
Arts patronage has existed throughout the centuries. But now, patronage is not limited to the few aristocrats and their tastes. It is wide open to the world to participate in. We’re all in this together! From $1 to $100, every single patron makes a difference in my ability to continue creating and offering Wild Tomato Arts, wild and free.
I’m honored to be one of eleven local artists exhibiting for one night only for the Atherton Arts Foundation Fall Reception on Friday, September 15, 2017, at Jennings Pavilion, Holbrook-Palmer Park, 150 Watkins Ave, Atherton, California.
In celebration of the show’s theme, “Through Artists’ Eyes: Land, Sea and Sky”, I will be showing a collection of my plein air watercolor sketches, all created on location in outdoor settings during my travels to Yosemite, Gettysburg, Vermont, Idaho, and out my front door in Half Moon Bay, California. I will also have copies of my Badass Women Portraits book, prints and cards available for purchase.
I hope you will join me!
I’ve had a whirlwind summer of travel, and now I have a few weeks to catch up and review what I created!
My return trip to Gettysburg this year was delightful and busy! I was a visiting teacher at Adams County Arts Council, where I had the joy of teaching a weeklong Sketchbook Journaling summer camp for youth, ages 10 to 13, as well as an adult creativity workshop entitled, “Hope for the Late-Blooming Creative”. I also did an Instagram takeover of Destination Gettysburg for the week, posting three photos a day on their account. On top of that, with the generous support of Lynda Taylor, Monica E. Oss, and J. Jay Mackie of Gettysburg, I was able to transform the lobby of an old bank building into a pop-up exhibition space for one evening. All in one week! This left me few large swaths of time to sketch on the battlefield, but instead compelled me to capture smaller moments around town when I could.
Here are the results.
First some airport sketches: I was astonished that this father was carrying two backpacks (one in front, one in back), and three suitcases through the SFO airport. His partner carried one child in a front pack and a toddler walking next to her. They were not smiling.
Brief layover in Chicago, drawing some faces from memory…
Noticed that the Susquehanna River through Harrisburg was brown with high water, reminding me of some of the swollen rivers I had seen in Southeast Asia.
Then my first meal of the day, with rain pouring outside, at Food 101 in Gettysburg. Delicious! I got caught up in all the ceiling tiles and never got around to sketching my food.
Morning sketch of the Evergreen Cemetery gate on Baltimore Pike in Gettysburg:
Sketch from the back patio of Ragged Edge Coffee House:
And a quick sketch of my food from Ragged Edge:
Quick 10-minute pen and ink sketch (colored in later) of the flowers in the back garden of my airbnb:
My afternoon sketch of the Pennsylvania Monument on the Gettysburg battlefield — almost three hours in the sun doing this one!
I find a shady spot to capture the Gettysburg Hotel, and happen to sit in front of this Ford Model A:
And a report on the magic unfolding, as it always does for me, in Gettysburg:
I am driving around, chasing the sunset, when I catch this view of the Eisenhower Farm, and I pull my car over to sketch from the side of the road.
Wandering around the Soldier’s National Cemetery before 100 Nights of Taps, I notice the bronzed words of the Gettysburg address at the base of this statue.
I take some rubbings in my sketchbook, and I look forward to using them in a future piece:
My students receive a surprise invitation to visit the attic of the Seminary Ridge Museum and sketch the views from there. I manage to snag a 10-minute quick sketch in between taking photos of them.
Every morning as I walked out the back door of my airbnb to go the half-block to Adams County Arts Council, I saw this view of the Thaddeus Stevens log cabin on Middle Street. One morning I finally took out my stool and sketched it.
More food notes and sketches.
At the end of my trip to Gettysburg, I had one afternoon to spend in Harrisburg before leaving on an early morning train to Vermont. It was a gorgeous day, so I luxuriated in a sketch walk around the capitol building and riverfront, followed by dinner at Cork & Fork.
Harrisburg State Capitol Building, with a lime green dome (!):
Study of a historic mansion’s roofline on Front Street:
Wanted to find a way to quickly record some of the architecture and the presence of the river on this walk, so I attempted an illustrated map:
At dinner, I sat outside and could not help being inundated with the loud conversation of the table behind me. I embraced it as a illustration opportunity and created this collage of phrases overheard:
The food was excellent, and I had to create this mini tribute to Cork & Fork Harrisburg:
Visit my Facebook page for photos of my students at work, and stay tuned for stories and images of my time in Vermont!
Once again, this year I had the opportunity to go to Yosemite National Park in July for twelve days (see here for my 2016 trip stories and sketches). Four nights, five days of wilderness backpacking followed by seven days six nights of volunteering for Yosemite Conservancy. Below are the images from my backpacking trip.
I used a small, handmade sketchbook using landscape shaped scraps of watercolor paper, painted cardboard box covers, and nylon yarn as binding. My tools were a Pigma Micron 01 pen, a Pigma Sensei 06 pen, Aquash large and medium size water brushes, and my own mini palettes of Daniel Smith watercolors (sixteen total colors). The last three pages I finished coloring when I got to Yosemite Valley on the afternoon of Day Five. The rest I completed on site, in the backcountry. All except the rout map were painted from memory or en plein air, not from photographs.
I also returned to an old favorite format: 6-inch by 6-inch squares, which I brought on my 2014 trip to Yosemite while I was completing work for the 50|50 show, a 50-day process of creating fifty works, all measuring six inches by six inches. I love the small square format, and Fluid Watercolor paper from Global Art Materials, Inc., comes in a great portable block that fits in my front pack in the backcountry. I love the Fluid “Easy Block” because it’s easy to remove finished paintings in the field (a key feature for backcountry sketching). Also, the paper is acid-free and archival, meaning the finished pieces are ready to be mounted or framed.
Stay tuned for images from my Yosemite Valley week…to be posted after I get back from Gettysburg!
Fresh from a trip to the mountains of Yosemite National Park, I’m now getting geared up for my 2017 residency in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania! Last year, I spent thirty days sketching, walking, biking, and painting in Gettysburg National Park. I came home and shared my work in an exhibition at the Half Moon Bay Library in my hometown.
Next week, I’m going back for one action-packed week of teaching, sketching, exhibiting, and reconnecting with all of the historical significance and natural beauty this place has to offer.
Here’s a list of the things I’ll be involved with in Gettysburg, from July 29 through August 4, 2017:
I hope you’ll follow along on social media or join me in person for one of these events!
Stay tuned for a gear report on the supplies I’m bringing on this trip…
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The design is done, the proof copy is on its way, and it’s time to announce your chance to pre-order the Badass Women Portraits BOOK! Yes, I always have big book plans from my art projects, and they always take so much longer to complete than I anticipate. But this one is DONE and ready to be printed.
This book is a great way to hold the entire exhibit in your hand, and savor it for years to come.
My goal is to sell 100 books by May 31, 2017….will you help me do it?
The book is really an exhibition catalog of all thirty-one pieces created in thirty-one days (including ones not shown at the Bamboo installation) created for the Badass Women Portraits project, plus bonus materials, like pages from my sketchbook, and scenes from the Bold Audacious Daring Women Painting workshop and opening reception at Bamboo.
I hope you will think of a woman or girl in your life who would be inspired by seeing the names and faces, plus a bit about these thirty-one Badass Women. Imagine the conversations you can start by looking at these portraits, contemplating these women’s lives, their contributions to the world we live in today, and the work we can each do, starting where we are now.
Plus, I’d like to think that my own story of being a “late-blooming creative”, pursuing the creative life in mid-life, will be a beacon of light to those who are wondering what’s possible for themselves.
This book is a great way to ask the question, “What makes a badass woman badass?“.
You can preview the entire book here, and place your pre-order (at a special price through May 31, 2017) here.
And even if you’re just inspired by looking, please share the links above and spread the word!
Thank you for your grins and giggles!
The price goes up on June 1st, so order yours now!
Last September, I decided to create my own artist residency at Gettysburg National Park. I had been a finalist for a sponsored residency, and I told myself if I applied a second time and wasn’t accepted, I would do it anyway. So that’s what happened, and in so many ways, it has turned out to be exactly the kind of inspiring experience I – and my creative process – thrive on.
You can see and read more about the unfolding of this process here, but the reason I’m writing this is to announce that I am returning to Gettysburg this summer! What started as a mention, a pipe dream, is swiftly becoming reality. Here are the events confirmed so far:
First Friday Pop-Up Show & Artist Talk – Friday, August 4, 2017, 5pm to 8pm, Grant Building, 12 Chambersburg Street, Gettysburg.
Light refreshments and Exhibition, 5pm to 8pm, Artist Talk 6:30pm to 7pm. Presenting illustrations created during a 30-day residency in Gettysburg in 2016: Battlefield & Beyond. Plus, a public interactive textile created during exhibition of this work in California.
Event made possible through generous support from Lynda Taylor, Monica E. Oss, and J. Jay Mackie of Gettysburg.
Youth Sketchbook Journaling Summer Camp at Adams County Arts Council – Observe and record the world. This unique camp combines drawing and writing to create expressive journal pages with a visual story on every one. You will work with various media and venture outdoors to create Gettysburg sketches. Ages 10 to 13. Monday, July 31 through Friday, August 4, 9am to noon. Register here.
Hope for the Late-Blooming Creative: adult creativity workshop at Adams County Arts Council. Tuesday, August 1, 6:30pm to 9pm. Contact Adams County Arts Council to register.
Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook to hear about other spontaneous events while I’m in Gettysburg. I’m looking forward to a collaboration with Destination Gettysburg, maybe doing some sketch crawls, creativity jumpstart sessions…who knows? I’ve learned to embrace all the pleasant surprises in the beautiful compost of life.