fawn&forest

Have you ever held a linocut? Lisa Price's linocut prints are absolutely amazing. The prints have an wonderful depth, each print is slightly different. The colors, so thoughtful. Thank you Lisa for kicking off this month's Forest Finds Q+A! 

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wasn't one of those kids who had a particular career in mind. My parents encouraged us to keep our options open instead of guiding us directly into one career path. Naturally I have created things all my life. Drawing has been a huge part of my life ever since I could pick up a crayon. I also spent a lot of time playing with fabric and hand sewing doll clothes which led my grandmother to believe that I would become a fashion designer. My interest in nature and animals led me to write a paper on becoming a veterinarian in eighth grade. That was a momentary lapse created by force and was quickly trumped by more art classes. I believe the creation of artgoodies has been building my whole life. It's wonderful to be doing something for a living that makes total sense and seems to have had such a natural progression.


You are a very talented printmaker. What is your favorite part of the process? What inspires your imagery?
Thank you so much. It's hard to nail down one particular aspect of printmaking as it really is an amazing process as a whole. Carving the block and making intuitive decisions that can't be taken back is pretty exciting. Once you cut the block there is no going back, and I like the permanence and boldness of making those marks. Pulling the very first print is a really great point too. It's really exciting to see your print come alive. Mixing color ranks near the top for me. I mix all my own colors from scratch using only the primaries and white. I usually have an idea of the color direction but never hold up fabrics or color swatches to match. It fascinates me because later on when I am making aprons or stuffies the vintage fabrics have a way of matching almost perfectly. I tend to use fabrics almost exclusively from the 40's-60's and I guess I just have some kind of inner color retrometer.  The process as a whole is very intuitive and therapeutic to me.

As stated in my bio, I am heavily influenced by nature and vintage items. I have spent a lot of time studying both. I find them both to hold elements of wonder and whimsy. Sometimes the simplest things can make us the happiest and be the most beautiful.

What does 2009 hold for you?
2009 holds more travel for artgoodies. I hope to venture into new territory as far as indie craft shows go. I love to be out with my work meeting new and existing customers face to face. There's a great sense of community at these shows and so many awesome vendors. There's a major account in the works, and also some of my pieces are supposed to make their big screen debut. I am particularly excited about both of these but have to keep them under raps until they are officially out. I am researching some new product options and hope to see some other exciting opportunities come to fruition this year. There will be some new designs of course, and I am hopeful for more exciting press, new accounts, and unexpected surprises!