We recently connected with Lisa Christopher and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

The struggle is real when it comes to correctly describing the process of Nuno felting. As people ogle my creations, they have no idea how truly unforgiving and difficult the medium is. Until a process video was filmed, describing the process was daunting and confusing. I have done my job as an artist if my audience remains perplexed with questions wondering how I created the piece they are viewing. Each “paint stroke” is wool roving fibers carefully set on the silk to create shading and composition, as a painter would. Through the process of agitating the fibers with soap, water and pressure, the barbs in the wool lock into the base of the piece (which is silk) creating its own fabric, which becomes felt. Nuno means cloth in Japanese, so this is a bit different than wet felting, since there is always a silk backing on my pieces.

Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Lisa Christopher and I am a fiber artist, residing in Bozeman, Montana. I grew up on a ranch in the Madison Valley, and during the long Montana winters I watched my mother sew. This is when I became interested in fabric, painting and creating anything with my hands. Both of my parents were artists and worked in many different mediums. My goal as a fiber artist is to create designs that puzzle my audience provoking questions. I have always been intrigued with extreme textures colors and different ways fibers can be manipulated, and after stumbling across a Fiber studio 10 years ago, I discovered Nuno felting and never looked back. I was eager to learn the technique and have experimented with embellishments fibers, colors, sizes and my work is ever-changing. Each piece takes hours of drafting, agitating and manipulating the fibers, allowing my energy to be infused into every square inch. The wool fibers eventually lock into the silk, and it morphs into felt, with the end result being a one of a kind show piece of texture, color, and fiber, and fused together.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have had many struggles along the way. I have been forced to work and live autonomously and have found that the most successful journeys I have sought out to do, were always done alone, but only with great lessons learned. Being alone all the time, gaining wisdom and strength in moments of aloneness and picking oneself up alone, can create a host of problems. Being comfortable and strong while working and creating alone is where true power sits, and this is where I tap in. I am a mature, divorced woman that works and creates alone. This has set my course in a different direction than most. I became more creative after tragic experiences such as tragic deaths of my dad and brother, a now adult son that has suffered from severe epilepsy for decades, a divorce the two daughters ready for high school which thrusted me into a move across the country that ultimately lead me back to Montana. This has lead me down a road of great resilience. Being able to reflect on the past, yet live in the present, and have no fear or anxiety for the future. This is a test that one must pass on a daily basis. There have been several times where I have been in flow as an artist, created many things, participated in shows, yet put my artistic tools away in the closet- including my creative brain, and not touched a thing for one or two years. It used to come in spurts, (my creative flow) and my goal is to become yet more resilient and stay in flow on a daily basis. I try to transmute energy faster now. If something negative comes up, I try to transmute the energy immediately to something positive and different. I believe that trying to stay in flow is trying to stay present, and in my life, I have learned that these two things are intertwined. My motto in this life is and has always been: No one is coming to save you. You are your own savior.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission as a fiber artist is to push boundaries that allow me to express myself authentically. Some may see my work as strange or different, but this is being authentic. Being true to oneself and truly not giving a damn about what others think about you and your work, shows authenticity. I believe we are all creative and there’s room in the world for all of us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.

Contact Info:

• Website: Lisachristopherfiberart.squarespace.com
• Instagram: @lisachristopherfiberstudio