We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lisa Sheets a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lisa, appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

There are quite a few unexpected problems that can divert an artist’s attention and energy, for example, illness of the artist or a family member, economic downturns, and larger community traumas like a pandemic that turns everything on its head. I had a whole bunch of great exhibits planned for the year 2020 and at the start of that year I was feeling great about everything. Then, when everything went into shutdown mode due to the pandemic, the exhibits canceled and postponed, or changed to online viewing only. And I had to rethink how I was going to stay in the conversation with others and keep my work being seen in the world. What I discovered during my investigations at that time was a whole other world: publishing my work in magazines and books. It was something I had not tried before, and I realized it was a way to reach lots of people and at the same time I would still have the original art here to exhibit on a wall in a gallery! So that obstacle of the pandemic actually did help launch me into a different direction, an additional pathway of the many ways that an artist promotes their work

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been making art in various forms for about 40 years. I started as a cast metal sculptor in the 1980s and worked on several series of sculptures that addressed women’s body images and societal norms. I have often worked autobiographically. Currently my artwork is mixed media collage. I incorporate all kinds of different images from our world including religious iconography, pop culture images, antique family photos, all these aspects of our history and culture. Through this lens I make commentary about gender roles, societal norms, and historical perspectives. My goal is artwork that is thoughtful, humorous, and challenging of stereotypes.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think Society can best support artists and creatives by offering tangible signs of encouragement. This can be something as small as following a person’s Instagram and clicking like or offering encouraging comments on work that you think is successful. Or showing up at art fairs and gallery openings to remind the artist of the connection they are making with viewers in a personal tangible way. Of course a great way to show support is to purchase actual art from the creative makers in your local community.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I experienced a series of pivots between 2003 and 2009 which was a time when our economy went through several rocky periods. At that time I recognized that in order for my art career to be sustainable, I would need to shift from continuing to try to do art full time, to developing a day job support system so that I could toggle back and forth between a stable financial support and pursuing making the art that I wanted to make. In this way I would not have to allow concerns about salability to enter my mind while I was making my creative work, because I developed a life where my day job and income was separate from my art making. So I went back to school to train for a career that could allow me to work freelance hours and be my own boss . It did take me quite a few years to ramp up the proper skills to work in my new field . Now although my art making time is not full time, I greatly cherish my art making time and have developed better time management skills to honor this. And also that when I am in the studio creating new work, I am not burdened by concerns about marketability because that is not my main reason for creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lisasheets.com
• Instagram: lisasheets_artspawn
• Facebook: LisaSheets

Image Credits
Lisa Sheets