Studio 4: Lisa Long

"I cannot expect even my own art to provide all of the answers - only to hope it keeps asking the right questions." - Grace Hartigan

Artist . . . designer . . . maybe a more fitting and open-ended description (although not concise) is "maker of things." I like to remind myself to approach life as a creative process – so that every single moment has the potential to relate directly or indirectly to art-making. In this way, life "keeps asking the right questions." I share with many others this inexplicable urge to "make" things: build, print, paint, design, construct, sew, cook, draw, glue, code, cut, bind. During the process of making things – there's no other way to describe it – except that in those moments – all feels right with the world.

Experimenting with many mediums and subjects prompts endless questions:  figure drawings on Yupo with water-soluble graphite (how large can I draw from life?), graphic design (how little can I put on this page and still deliver the message?), color field monotypes (how many layers of ink can I put down before the color begins to lose its luminosity?), web design (can I design a more intuitive navigation?), letterpress printing (how can I devise a way to print over the pages of an old book while keeping it intact?). I really like these kinds of questions.

With a BFA in Graphic Design and over 25 years' design experience, I share my time between creating logos/websites and fine art. One art-making process feeds the other, and they both challenge me to 'ask the right questions.'