We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lara James. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lara below.
Lara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
The first dollar I ever earned as a creative was when I sold bookmarks for five cents each when I was about six. The first one I sold to my mother. But my mistake was asking her if she wanted it before telling her they were five cents. She still bought one, though she was a bit annoyed with the bait and switch, and I learned my first lesson in salesmanship: let people know your work is for sale first, before asking them if they want it. So, my first client was a bit annoyed with me, but that didn’t deter me a bit.
Once I had tapped out everyone at home, I took my work to school and sold bookmarks there. Of course, being so young, I thought I had come up with a brilliant method that everyone would love. I discovered bookmark making by drawing with markers on my mirror. Then I thought I wonder what it would look like if I put a 3 x 5 card up to the mirror and smeared it around. The mirror didn’t look that great, but I thought the card looked nifty. I made a nice border to it, and thought it was really professional. I didn’t sell those for long, because it turned out most of my fellow six – year olds at school had no need of a bookmark, but that paved the way to making intricate mazes to sell to my classmates when I was a few years older, which was a lot of fun.
Lara, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’ve always been an artist. Art is a necessity especially to those who hurt, and it’s been a great outlet throughout my life, no matter what was going on, even when I’ve wanted to create just for the joy of creating. I met my husband in art school and he became a Marine after we married. We moved a lot, and I would sometimes have a job too, but we always pursued art in our daily lives. My undergraduate concentration was in making books, and my mother in law taught me to quilt and do fine handwork. Another aunt in the family taught me to knit and rug hooking. It became natural to offer classes in the things I did to military wives. I’ve taught quilting and rug hooking, and then began to teach art to children.
When my husband was stationed in Virginia, we went to craft shows to sell what we were making then. Our work goes well together, because he was doing woodwork and I was doing collage cards and quilted wall hangings. My graduate work started in oil painting and then became multidisciplinary as I concentrated on fiber art.
Now that I’ve gone though cancer that almost killed me and left me disabled in 2022, I am still doing work but not as fast or as large. I am still making quilted wall hangings, which are one of my favorite ways to talk about my thoughts, struggles and joys. When I was sick in bed with cancer one of the things that brought me joy was carving into slabs of rubber and making prints from them. I started with armadillos, which, with their armor, makes me think of ways in which we all protect ourselves. I have begun to make prints of other animals such as squirrels , foxes and flamingos. Now I’m working on a pen and ink calendar called Best Friends, which will be on sale this fall and will showcase my armadillo and all its many animal friends, like mice, possums, frogs, bears and turtles.
Because pen and ink with watercolor has always been a favorite way of sketching, I’m beginning to paint and offer these for sale as well. I think sometimes you know your friend needs the gentle humor of armadillos having a tea party picnic, or playing Twister. I want to provide little gifts like this that aren’t cost-prohibitive, that will make someone’s day.
Spiritually, I think my best gift is encouragement. And my desire for my work is to encourage people, let them know they are not alone in their struggles, and help them laugh. This for me is a way I feel God working through me, to lessen the hurt in this world and to spread love.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
As stated in the last question, I’ve used art to express not only my hurt and anguish but also joy and fear and feeling whimsical. I believe art is for helping ourselves be known. Because it is so personal like this, it’s understandable that when our work is rejected, we can feel rejected if we don’t keep it in perspective. I may have the same feelings as someone, but that doesn’t mean they enjoy seeing how I express mine. I learned in art school that ‘personal is universal’, meaning if you use your feelings, it will speak to others because we’ve all had similar feelings. My mission is to continue to lay bare my feelings. My work is to help others know they are not alone in their pain, disappointment or grief in this world. But I am also here to encourage people deep down; God saved me from certain death when I was 22, and again in 2022, and he wants to be close to all of us. He is the source of all comfort, which is so needed in the world today. At heart, my work is to reflect God’s goodness by telling my story- and it’s still unfolding. I always look forward to see what he will do next.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was sick in the hospital with cancer, in May they didn’t expect me to live until Christmas. The radiation and chemo treatments were like a whirlwind. I had many sleepless nights, or nightmares ( a side effect of chemo) and was alone in my bed. I knew God was with me, and spoke to him, and didn’t spend a lot of time in fear because I trusted him that I was to keep doing whatever the next thing was. So I drew in my sketchbook. I drew my gentle armadillos doing karate, playing football, playing the big bass drums in a marching band, and doing so many more funny things. I colored them in, and shared them with my doctors, therapists and all those who came to visit. This quiet humor is the same kind I have in life, and this plus my faith gave me the resilience I needed. I saw that this art was giving laughs to others as well as consoling me, and it is still doing the same, two years later.
Contact Info:
- Website: @onthemendtextiles
- Instagram: @angelcakepaintings
- Facebook: On the Mend Textiles and Paintings
- Other: Etsy shop: OntheMendbyLara