November Artist of the Month: Lisa Walker

Lisa Walker's art is passionate, eccentric, and just different (unique and original).  During her interview below, she mentions enjoying artist like Khara Oxier and Louis Vuittonet describing them as "Outsider artists".  I understand why she relates to these artist and why her pieces stand out to me.  As a writer, I usually have to ponder what I'm going to write about and do edit after edit until I get it right.  Lisa lets her creativity take over when she puts pen to paper, paint to canvas.  Lisa, also known as CraftyHippiechick to her fans, is a local artist from Detroit, MI.  She is admired for her Icad pieces and her mixed media journaling.  It is with sheer joy that I present her as Emerald City Swag's November Artist of the Month.


Smile: What is your name/artist name and where are you from?

Lisa: My name is Lisa Walker but on also on Instagram as CraftyHippiechick. I also have a Facebook art page by that name.

Smile: How do you describe your art and where does your inspiration come from?

Lisa: I would describe my art as intuitive or raw and my inspiration comes from whatever shows up for me when I lay down paint and paper.

Smile: What is the first piece that you remember creating and at what age?

Lisa: the first piece I remember creating I was about 5 or 6 and kindergarten I made a tree and it had tissue paper leaves and I can still see that tree. I can still see the orange yellow and green leaves and the teacher hung it up in the classroom. The next piece that I remember creating I was about 7 or 8 being in the third grade and I created a landscape with hills and a setting sun.

Smile: I know that you have 3 grown children and art kind of runs in your family, was it second nature nurturing their artist abilities as they were growing up?

Lisa: Yes, when my kids were growing up we would do arts and crafts projects. We made dolls out of clothes pins and I always had coloring books and crayons for them.

Smile: If you could pick one place where your work could be shown, where would it be?

Lisa: I can only pick one place lol. I guess it would be in an art gallery or museum like the MoMA.

Smile: Being from Detroit, what do you think about the street art scene that's erupting in the city?

Lisa: I love it! The art scene is bringing so much talent and vitality to the city and bringing positivity to the city I think it's great.

Smile: Tell me more about yourself and what you like to do beside being an awesome artist.

Lisa: Well , for my day job I'm a special education paraprofessional. I love movies, books , dancing and spending time with family and friends.



Smile: Now on to the most important question, lol, well to me at least. Besides loving art, I'm a major foodie & bookworm. What type of food is your favorite? What's the most recent book that you have read?

Lisa: My favorite food is Italian or lumpia (hint hint). The book that I am reading now is The life-changing magic of tidying up :the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo. Hopefully once I complete reading this book I'll be able to be neat and tidy. keep my fingers crossed.

Smile: What form of art would you like to be better at? What type of art would you like to do more besides painting?

Lisa: would like to get better at realistic drawing. Making my people look more like quote unquote real people and the art that I would like to try is assemblage or sculpture.

Smile: Do you have a favorite piece that you have created? If so, what is it and why?

Lisa: Favorite? Hmmm, let me think. A piece called "Little Girl Lost" I really like. Also a piece titled "Outsiders' Hamlet". The styles are different. Little girl is full of emotion..her eyes tell a story. Outsiders' because a couple of different techniques were involved.



Smile: Do you have any artist (past or present) that you admire and why?


Lisa: The list of artists that I admire is very loooong. I like Leonardo Da Vinci and Vincent van Gogh. They are the classics what you will call the Masters. I also enjoy Khara Oxier and Louis Vuittonet. They are Outsider artists.

Smile: What do you think is the hardest obstacles that artist face in the industry today?

Lisa: Maybe the hardest obstacle is getting noticed. I know this may seem like an oxymoron with all the social media that's available( Instagram, Facebook , Twitter and the like ) that does make your art more visible. Now that art is more readily available how do you get yours to stand out? to be noticed? Does that make sense?

Smile: Yes, it does.  I think overall, art is a hard industry to break into.  But with social media, it's not that your art doesn't stand out, I think it's more being able to promote your pieces in all avenues and having time to do so.  Next question, What is your biggest accomplishment as an artist so far? And what's the biggest goal you have for yourself as an artist?


Lisa: My biggest accomplishment so far I guess was having a couple of my pieces sell it and being interviewed for this article. The biggest goal I have is to make a living as a full-time artist.

Smile: What artist would you really like to collaborate with and why?

Lisa: I would love to collaborate with Mystele Kirkeeng (YouTube) because I think we work very similarly.

Smile: Last questions, where can we find your art work to purchase? And is there anything else you would like the audience to know?

Lisa: I'm looking at avenues to have my art for sale, hopefully I'll have a website soon. Please stop by my art page at https://www.facebook.com/craftyhippichick.

Smile: Lisa, you have been wonderful. Thanks for giving us an interview and I am glad that we are able to feature your work this month. I look forward to seeing more of your art and best to you and your future!

Detroit Artist, Lisa Walker

All images in the above post belong to the artist, please respect copy right laws. Click on the images to visit Lisa's site.  Thank you.