Mondays with Lisbeth

My daughter Lisbeth will be joining me in my studio on Monday mornings to "do art." Today she was not in the mood to make art, but wanted me to draw her. She sat for about half an hour. I have made several portraits of Lisbeth over the years. It's an intense experience, because she is so intense, and our bond and joint history is so intense. In a thirty minute period, Lisbeth can rapidly vacillate between giddiness, anxiety, anger, sadness...it's all there.

Etchings

Yesterday I pulled the first proofs of my sugarlift etchings.

And etched a new plate.

Here it is getting degreased with Comet...

I will be layering this image of Lisbeth's eyes with images of her snowflakes using multiple plates.

The plates waiting in my cubby.

Ooooh, it feels SO GOOD to be printing again. Ahhhhh.....

We're On (the) Line!

Brainstorm Studio is up and running as of yesterday! And we've even had our first sale!! Very exciting!!! I believe that this shop will help Lisbeth in many ways. Because of her traumatic brain injury and chronic seizures, Lis has high anxiety about being out and about in the world, and is not capable of working a daily job like some folks with special needs are able to do. She suffers from depression, too, and it is our hope that her involvement in this project will help her spiritually and emotionally, as well as financially (I also want to look into supporting epilepsy research with a percentage of the proceeds....). Lisbeth does enjoy working at home, though, where she feels safe and secure with her one-on-one helpers (God Bless them, everyone!) and her little cat, Milkweed, by her side. We are working to make a more organized space for Lisbeth in her home to create her snowflakes - an official studio space! And I have started a blog for Lis where we can document the progress of her business, and where she can share some of her feelings and stories!



We are off to a good start!

More Brainstorming...

Lisbeth's rendering of her cat's brain...

Lisbeth's drawing of Milkweed as an angel...I may use this as her logo...

Lisbeth's snowflake/mandalas silkscreened on tee shirts will be the first of many items to go in the etsy shop. I am also planning to design fabric using Lisbeth's mandalas over at Spoonflower, and will be creating a line of pillows, tablecloths, napkins, and placemats...

an EEG.

a couple of banner drafts...

I've spent the last two days working on designing the banner for my daughter Lisbeth's new etsy shop, and I've begun to patch together a business plan. I've decided to call the site Brainstorm Studio - this came to me while I was walking around my yard, and I etched it several times with a stick in the snow. I like that the word "brainstorm" describes creative thinking and problem solving, and its reference to Lisbeth's traumatic brain injury and seizure disorder. A seizure is indeed a storm in the brain. And it was available! For the banner I've collaged (in Photoshop) one of Lis's snowflakes in her favorite colors: pink, white and pale blue. (These are the colors of her beloved cat Milkweed's pink ears and nose, white fur, and blue eyes!) Then I decided to lay an EEG scan over all. This really describes Lisbeth's life. Although she is constantly interrupted by seizure activity, she still produces this prolific amount of incredibly beautiful cut paper designs. I've written here before about how a seizure cluster is referred to in neurology as a "flurry" and how Lisbeth has often referred to her snowflakes as "brains." These brain/snow connections are fascinating.

A bit of synchronicity: When Lisbeth was first hospitalized at age six in the summer of 1988, a family friend brought this book to her: Brave Irene, by William Steig. Irene is a very courageous little girl whose mother is too ill to deliver a dress that she has just finished for a local duchess to wear to a ball that evening. So Irene puts her sick mother to bed and then marches alone through a terrible blizzard, into the dark and freezing cold, and against all odds, completes this difficult errand. This story continues to be a favorite of Lisbeth's. I wonder why...

Brainstorming...

The artist, Lisbeth Miller

I have spent the past two afternoons sorting through a couple of boxes of my daughter Lisbeth's cut paper designs. They are so amazing. I have hundreds of them and they are all different. One of my new year's resolutions is to make a new Etsy shop, separate from mine, where we will offer products using Lisbeth's designs. I am at the beginning stages of this project, so almost hesitate to write about it here, but then remember that this blog is all about process! I won't go into great detail yet, but will just say that these images will eventually show up on a variety of products in a multitude of ways!