Geometry of Distraction – Origins of a New Series  Lisa Call Geometry of Distraction: Moments 12 x 12″ (30 x 30cm) fabric, dye, paint, thread on canvas The Sketchbook Inexplicably pulled to draw the same simple composition over and over, I did not resist.  Repeat repeat repeat.  Until I had pages filled with three circles and a square. While I’ve learned to trust my interests and just follow them, I also had plenty of doubts.  What was I doing?  It’s so simple.  And more importantly – it felt so familiar – what was compelling me to keep drawing it? In the magic ..read more

Lisa Call – Structures #40 fabric, dye, thread 44 x 44 inches (112 x 112 cm) The Okay Plateau Over a decade ago I read the book Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer and came across the notion of the Okay Plateau. “… The OK Plateau is that point when we reach the autonomous stage and consciously or unconsciously say to ourselves, “I am OK at how good I have gotten at this task,” and stop paying attention to our improvement. We all reach OK Plateaus in almost everything we do. We learn to drive when we’re teenagers, and at first we improve rapidly, but eventually we are no longer a threat to ..read more

house painting100 Accomplishments For many years I wrote a 100 accomplishments list at the end of the year. (You can read them here: Lisa Call’s 100 Accomplishments on the MakeBigArt blog.) It was such an empowering activity. It helped me see that I was doing quite a bit, even though I felt like I was always behind and should be doing more. The practice came to an end during the pandemic. Not intentionally – I just stopped feeling like doing the lists It required a tremendous effort to track down all of those statistics and I simply no long wanted to make the time to do the work to compile int ..read more

A Plan for the Studio September always starts out as a bit of a blur due to my teaching schedule and this week it was glorious as my time has freed up a bit. I returned to one of my favorite practices. Writing a long list of everything I want to get done in the studio during week in my studio sketchbook. I love lists and when combined with the tracking of my studio hours, I am much more focused on the things that matter. It’s Wednesday morning I’ve already checked off a few of those items. Today is a big studio day with no teaching or coaching. Yahoo – I love days like this on my calendar mid ..read more

Converted Wool Shed – Coromandel, New ZealandRoad Trip Last week kiwi guy had a job to do up in the Coromandel (installing security cameras and an alarm system.) It sounded like a great opportunity for me to unplug and get some artwork done, so I readily agreed to join him on the adventure. Which was advertised (by kiwi guy) as a four day road trip. It wasn’t going to be long – I’d be home by Wednesday night. The Coromandal is most beautiful and rugged part of New Zealand. Always worth a visit. And as a bonus, the job was in an old wool shed (where they used to shear sheep) that has been conve ..read more

©Lisa Call Structures #34 fabric, dye, thread 57 x 55 inches (145 x 140 cm) Private CollectionIs Working in a Series Cheating? I recently resurrected my email newsletter for MakeBigArt (the teaching and coaching side of my art practice) In that issue I shared a few thoughts on why I don’t believe working in a series is cheating or lazy. (You can read that link to see my answer) I want to expand a bit on my answer based on my history as an artist as it illustrates what is next for me in the studio. Just because it’s not cheating – that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when it’s best to move on ..read more

Public Holiday Today is Matariki – a new holiday here in New Zealand. Matariki are a cluster of stars that appear this time of year (mid winter) here in New Zealand and it is know as the Māori New Year. Matariki runs from late May through early July as each iwi celebrates in their own way. The date of the Matariki public holiday is closest Friday to the Tangaroa lunar calendar period of the correct calendar month. So like Easter it will change each year. It is a time to reflect on the past year, celebrate the present, and plan for the year ahead. The recommended ways to celebrate (for all New ..read more

Morning Run by Lisa Call – framed and in it’s new homeCompleting the Process As much as I love making art for the shear joy of making. The process feels complete after I have shared it with the world. The connection and conversation is priceless. Over the last year (ish) I have been collecting images people have shared with me of my artwork out in the world – in their homes or on exhibition. I’m most honored when it is artwork that has been purchased and placed in someone’s space. Thank you to all that have shared these images with me to share. Another view of Morning Run by Lisa Call (back w ..read more

Basement Art Installation (artwork created by my son many years ago) The other day I asked members of the MakeBigArt Community the following question: Were your parents/caregivers artists or creatives or makers? Did you grow up creating along side either of them? Do you have a favorite memory making with them? It’s taken me quite some time to answer because I managed to hurt my hand and typing became a bit impossible. In the meantime I enjoyed reading their responses and memories. And the more I thought- the more memories that came flooding back. So now that I can finally type again – my ans ..read more

Noise – in progress Getting to 1000 Last week I hit a milestone with my long running art project – Noise. I completed the first 1000 units! They don’t take up a lot of space – see the above photo. That is all of them lined up in stacks of 100. The do generate a lot of trash. Neatly sorted into piles based on type. Which is part of the project. What this is all about will eventually be clear. First to me and then I can explain it to you. To give you a hint – It’s my most content driven work to date. In the mean time I’m immersed in the activity of building tiny color studies. Over and over agai ..read more