37: lisa solomon

lisa solomon

artist

lisa solomon is a mixed media artist [and sometimes college professor and graphic designer] who lives in oakland, california with her 16-month old daughter and husband, a one-eyed pit bull, a deaf french bulldog and a cross-eyed cat. She loves things organized by color, is currently obsessed with spotting birds because her daughter loves them so, and hopes to take a luxurious vacation sometime in the not too distant future [who is she kidding?]. In her studio, she’s currently working on pieces about deforestation, and she is creating abstract portraits of her family members by embroidering in various colors and stitches their birth or death dates [not as recognizable numbers]. You can see more of her work on her website: lisasolomon.com — or read her ramblings [she tries to post weekly] on her blog.

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on the nightstand:

• Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky [thanks shanna!]
• lamp from my grandmother
• surf vintage fan
• baby monitor
• pink plastic alarm clock
• iphone

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am loving:

• Eating from the garden [fava beans!]
• How my daughter hugs the pets
• The smell of fragrant roses

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what inspires you about spring?

• The shift in light and the longer days
• All the blooming flowers!
• The return of the birds
• The ability to be outside more

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what’s one item in your spring wardrobe you can’t go without?

Flip flops. I usually end up buying a new pair each spring/summer and wear them out

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what’s your idea of the perfect homemade spring meal?

Anything freshly picked. The strawberries this year are amazing.

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what are three constants in your day?

• Tea
• Hearing ma-ma – da-da – ga-bo – ta-ta
• Looking around for something beautiful or interesting

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tell us about the inspiration behind the work featured here.

These drawings came about because I was stuck in the studio. I didn’t feel like doing what I was supposed to be doing and I didn’t know what else to do but I didn’t want to “waste time” — especially since studio time for me is so precious. So I decided to look around me and draw the flowers that I saw. I wanted them to be simple and fairly clean. So I started with pencil. I then added the shapes of color to try and capture the colors and mood of the flowers. And then I added the thread. Because I love to draw with thread. I find little exercises like these very freeing. They allow me to try out things, have fun, try to stay loose. I normally wouldn’t share these with anyone. I guess mostly because they are kind of different than what I normally do. But sometimes I think it’s good to be public with something that might usually be private.