We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lisa McCague. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lisa below.

Lisa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

Many years ago my sister saw an infomercial (remember those?!) for painting with acrylic paint on glass. Being the crafty person I was, she immediately demanded I learn this new craft so I could paint glasses for her wedding gift! I happily obliged, because crafters gonna craft. And my new favorite hobby was born!

Lisa, 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 have always been a creative, dabbling in so many art forms. In fact, my husband had to build me a studio on our property just to house all of it! I had a creative candle business in the past, but the grind of lugging all of that heavy stuff to and from craft shows and farmer’s markets was exhausting. So I took a break and focused on my family.

Calligraphy and painting have always been in the background, so when I recently got back into that niche, it seemed the whole world had as well! The Covid pandemic really brought out people’s creative sides, and social media was exploding with calligraphers, painters, and live event artists. So I joined a calligraphy mentoring group called The Craft Academy, and it really helped me niche down and find what they call my “North Star”, or my guiding light…my reason why I do what I do.

I had no idea that the glass painting I had done all those years ago now had a place in the luxury event space. This is now what I am most known for, and most of my live event bookings are for what is now called “bottle painting”. It isn’t limited to just bottles though! Leather, plastic cases, boxes, bags….so many surfaces can be painted and personalized! Its magical!

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

There is the societal view of the “starving artist”. We need to eradicate that! Artists contribute just as much time, energy, and resources to their careers as corporate or trades do. Artists should have no expectation of not being able to create a full time career out of what they love doing. Society needs to value that talent as much as they value what a lawyer, or plumber, or a teacher offers the world, and be willing to pay them what they are worth. Artists have a skill that only they can offer this world, and it is my hope that we can help others realize that creative work is valuable!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In the live event industry, nobody will know what you do unless you are vulnerable and “put yourself out there”. But you have to have a thick skin at the same time, because there will always be rejection. Whether its from a potential lead telling you that you cost too much, to someone asking you to change your style to match their expectation, to outright nastiness on social media, you have to value yourself and what you do first and foremost. After that, you need to know who your ideal client is and how to recognize them. And finally, you need to be able to brush those little nay-sayers off your shoulder that are whispering lies into your ears, and step out boldly into your craft without apology!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beautifuldaycalligraphy.com
• Instagram: @beautifuldaycalligraphy
• Facebook: @beautifuldaycalligraphy
• Linkedin: @beautifuldaycalligraphy

Image Credits
All photos are my own