Who is Lisa Thorpe?

Hello, my name is Lisa Thorpe. I began my artistic journey as a kid sewing crazy clothes for all my Barbie dolls on my hand crank, kiddy sewing machine. This trail led me to UC Davis Design and Art departments, where my emphasis was on textiles and wearable art. Later I received my teaching credential in Art and Education from San Francisco State University.

As an artist I am an explorer and observer first. I like to wander and wonder, let things percolate while I ponder. I have numerous sketchbooks full of chicken scratch drawings and cryptic thoughts. Over time (and often during a long hot shower) an idea will keep rising to the surface, I might even push that thought bubble below the surface, telling it I don’t have time for you, but the best ideas won’t pop and so I move on from thought to action. I have used many mediums over the years from fabric to painting to printing and collage but the unifying thread through all these mediums is a love of the puzzle. I like to problem solve, to piece and play with an idea until it can take shape as a visual idea. I love words and word play too so words are often woven in the work and the work is woven in words.

Throughout, no matter the medium, I play with the verbal and the visual. In that vein I have and artist journey blog. The blog pushes me to try new things, to play and produce and articulate both visually and in prose my ideas and inspirations. It has been a significant experiment, rewarding and daunting all at once. To create something and then share it with world almost immediately is both thrilling and terrifying. But what is art for if not to share, if not to pique and poke? So that is my goal, my quest my passion, to share art, to have conversations, to both reflect-on and reflect-back the wonders of the world I navigate.

As a mixed media artist there are no limits - if a technique or medium will achieve my goals I’ll try it, I’ll play with it, I’ll shape it to my purpose. I love to share what I’ve learned from my explorations through workshops and technique articles for creative magazines. To see how the same materials and techniques can reveal the voice of each artist is very rewarding and I always learn something from my students to put into the mix of my next creative endeavor.

I teach creative workshops all over the country. I have been invited to lead workshops for quilt guilds, church groups, friend groups and at national creative conferences such as Craft Napa, CREATE and more. I have published technique articles in creative magazines; Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors and in literary journals; Cold Mountain Review and About Place.