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Gettysburg 2016 Limited Edition Notecards Now Available!

| WildTomato

I’m pleased to release this series of eight designs, each created on location in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, during my September 2016 artist residency there.

These cards will be available for a limited time only on this site, so you are encouraged to place your orders as soon as you can.

Each folded card is blank inside, and is printed on 150-pound, luxurious, eco-friendly bamboo paper, with a watercolor paper envelope. The paper is uncoated, so will accept inks without smudging. Card dimensions: 5″ by 7″.

All cards are individually wrapped in a clear sleeve.

Set of 4 cards (any single design): $19.99

Set of 8 cards (variety pack with one of each design, or single design): $35.99

USPS Priority Mail Shipping: $5.95

Sales Tax (California shipping addresses only): 9.5%

International shipping — please contact me with your shipping address for an estimate on shipping costs

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Design options:

#2016-001 Honey Locust with text
#2016-002 Honey Locust no text
#2016-003 John Weikert barn
#2016-004 Sunrise over Trostle Farm
#2016-005 Klingel House study
#2016-006 Schmucker House
#2016-007 Peach Orchard fence with plants
#2016-008 Excelsior Field fence
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8-pack assorted designs (one of each design in the set): $35.99

Set of 8 assorted designs
Set of 8 cards – one of each design
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Thoughts on the power of our stories

| WildTomato

death-valley-sketchbook-1

If you’ve followed me on Instagram (@drlisachu), you’ve seen pages from my daily illustrated journal practice called “Before 10am”, which I’ve kept since July 2016…that’s over 150 consecutive days so far! I have kept a written journal for many years of my life, but only recently, in 2013, did I start playing with blank pages of a sketchbook, permitting not only words and sentences to appear on the page, but also colors, lines, shapes, scribbles, collage, and other experimental images. This liberating practice has led me and followed me through the daily routine of home life, to wilderness adventures in several national parks, and everything in between. This one new habit has changed my life by deepening my observations of the world around me, and slowing me down each day to reflect on what I have experienced. It has also given me an object to share with others, and a way of connecting with people around the world via social media.

I just returned from a road trip to Death Valley National Park, where I celebrated my birthday. While there, I learned that “Timbisha” is the Shoshone name for their home (which we call “Death Valley”). The word “Timbisha” refers to the sacred red color of the rocks in the area, and symbolizes the future, or the way forward. As Park Ranger Alexandra, a geographer who led a brief program in one of the colorful canyons in Death Valley, shared various theories on the formation of the canyons, she also said that many of the Shoshone stories of this place are stories she is not allowed to tell. Continue reading →

Sneak preview of Gettysburg journal pages!

| WildTomato

I am BACK from my trip to Gettysburg! I added on a week in Richmond, Virginia, visiting three museums of the Confederacy, Appomattox National Park, and Monticello.

I made a LOT of artwork, and continued my “Before 10am” illustrated journal series every day (which you can always see on Instagram!).

I am busily pulling together all the artwork, scanning, setting up an exhibition and talk schedule, first in Half Moon Bay in November.

In the meantime, here are some previews of my favorite journal pages from the month:

I’m going to Gettysburg!

| WildTomato

Before 10 am - 8.30.16

Today, before 10am.

Last day at home for awhile. Took a longer than usual walk on the beach…with sand dollars and terns and oceans of open sand, washed clean from last night’s tide. Enjoyed a cup of tea and some toast while I looked at more photos of artifacts and stories from Gettysburg. [Note: I am still not packing for my trip, which is mildly concerning.]

Yes, I am headed to Gettysburg National Park TOMORROW. I was twice a finalist for the National Parks Arts Foundation artist residency, so I decided to create my own. I found a cute little lower-level apartment for rent from a kiwi farmer and her husband. When she heard I am an artist and saw my work, she began sending me all kinds of resources on local artists, and offered to introduce me to many of her contacts who are involved in arts patronage in Gettysburg. Patronage starts with these small acts of kindness, nurturing connections by going above and beyond the transaction.

I will be setting up a Patreon page to invite you to contemplate becoming a patron of my art. Right now, my contributions to the world remain largely outside the formal economy. My most deeply interesting and gratifying work has happened by showing up and saying “Yes”, trusting in what will come from my enthusiasm, care, and attention.

Patreon is crowd-sourced arts patronage. It’s like a virtual tip jar, allowing you to “high five”, encourage, and cheer me on in my work, as I make and share with you what I discover. It’s a form of arts patronage that is unique to the internet age. I hope you’ll join me in this exciting venture. Stay tuned for a url where you can get involved!

P.S. This “Today, before 10am” project started back in July on Instagram, where every day I have created a one-page illustrated journal of something I noticed or experienced that day before 10am. I continued it in Yosemite and I will continue it at Gettysburg in expanded form!

Yosemite Series: Day Ten

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Day 10: Starting Out Early In The Morning

Thursday. I am well aware that I have only this and one more morning in which to get out early enough to sketch and paint before the baking sun begins to saturate the Valley. I’m on my bike by eight o’clock. Sara Midda’s South of France sketchbook pops into my head, with her delicate vignettes depicting details, colors, and memories of every season of the year in southern France. I decide to make vignettes of the smallest details I can find this morning on my bike ride. I’ve been trying to stare at massive granite walls and follow the contours with my eyes and hands. Now I’m going to notice the minutiae. Continue reading →

Yosemite Series: Day Nine

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Day 9: Made in the Shade

Wednesday is the volunteers’ day off. In years past, we have spent our Wednesdays doing such ambitious hikes as Mount Dana, Mount Hoffmann, and Four Mile Trail. But two years ago, knowing we had a backpacking trip ahead of us, tacked onto the end of the work week, we decided to take it easy. One of the other volunteers lent us his inflatable raft. We took the shuttle bus all the way to Happy Isles, and found a spot to put in near Sugar Pine bridge. The water was so low we were sitting on rocks for much of the time, but we did manage to make our way all the way to our home base, just past Sentinel Beach.

This year, having already worked hard on our backpacking trip, and with the exceptional heat (today’s high forecast to be 103), we have a very unambitious agenda. We get on our bikes and see if we can catch the ranger program at 9:30. Turns out it is cancelled. We head just beyond the Yosemite Museum to the Yosemite Cemetery. I never knew there was a cemetery until Ranger Karen mentioned yesterday that the only sequoia trees in the Valley are the ones planted around the tombstone of Galen Clark, Yosemite’s first park ranger. Continue reading →

Yosemite Series: Day Eight

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Day 8: Geo-Mythology, Ranger Karen, and Lisa-Chu-rri Sauce

I am up before my 5:45am alarm again. Today’s breakfast menu is hash browns, scrambled eggs, sausage patties, and the leftover black bean and corn salad from last night’s dinner. I find out Mary Lou has never made hash browns from boxed or frozen potatoes…only by grating fresh ones.

“Trust me, it’ll work,” I say. We have picked up a carton of dehydrated shredded potatoes from Yosemite Lodge, and I am ready to go at them, testing my hash brown flipping skills on a larger scale than I’ve ever done before. The skillets we have are the size of backyard garbage can lids. The spatula is the size of a Kindle reader. Mary Lou is a skeptic all the way until the moment she tastes the cooked hash browns. Continue reading →

Yosemite Series: Day Seven

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Day 7: Cooking, Biking, and Sketching

My alarm is set for 5:40am. My first job in the morning is to put two pots of coffee on the stove. We promise our volunteers coffee by 6:15, and breakfast by 7. My eyes open at 5:25. The sun is already up but hasn’t started to warm the floor of the valley yet. From my tent, it is about a thousand feet to the vault toilet, and then another thousand feet back to the bear locker where my toothbrush and toothpaste are stored. Then about twenty feet to the hand washing station set up near the kitchen.

The menu for today’s breakfast is bacon and French toast. Mary Lou takes charge of the bacon. I am in charge of the French toast. I crack ten eggs into a stainless steel bowl the size of a restaurant wok. Our supplies are stored inside a trailer which is dark at this time of day. We are still not totally familiar with the contents of the five different coolers with perishable items, so I am often opening and closing all five before I locate the one ingredient I need. Continue reading →