My Creative Life is a weekly interview, with the same five questions,
with folks who are living authentically, creatively, and making a living out of their passions.
This week I am honored to have Lisa Allen of Memphis, TN who creates stunning fused glass artwork. Check out the craftsmanship/workmanship of her bold, unique pieces. The
way she manipulates the glass is mesmerizing. She can be found at Sanctuary Glas and also at lisa-allen.com.
1. What do you do? (career wise - whatever you want to share)
I am a glass
artist and make work by fusing glass in a kiln. I make both one of a kind work for galleries and production pieces that I sell at various art and craft fairs.
2. How did you prepare for this career? (formal and informal education, books,
workshops?
When I got divorced I started taking continuing ed classes at the local university. I had previously ridden horses and taught riding lessons for a living. But when I had some extra time on my hands and a need for distraction, I signed up for lots of different classes to keep myself occupied. I worked with clay, casting silver jewelry, painting and stained glass. For some reason the glass just clicked with me. It just felt like a natural fit for some reason. So I worked with stained glass for 4 or so years before taking a class in fusing. Then I was really hooked. I have since taken many workshops all over the country, read many books, and try to always keep experimenting. It has been 8 years since that first fusing class and I am still going strong.
3. Besides living according to the values of creativity and independence, what other values are you honoring by following this path?
I don't know about values I am honoring, but I sure have a list of things I am learning. Patience is a big one. Kilns are not quick. So every step in my process requires relaxing and waiting. Also, learning to see things with different eyes, so that when things don't turn out as you planned (which is often!), you can look past what you expected to see and take in what is there. And it may be even better than what you had planned! Another big thing I have learned is just to approach every situation with curiosity and a sense of fun. I think we sometimes make things too serious and there is no quicker way to kill creativity, at least for me.
4. What struggles or challenges do you face, if any?Challenges are varied. My raw materials as well as all of the equipment required are pretty expensive, so sometimes that can feel like an obstacle. Also those times of feeling creatively blocked are tough. But I think the biggest challenge stems from not having any formal training other than the workshops I have attended. That seems to always bring up the questions of "what am I doing?", "who do I think I am", etc. But I read a wonderful quote in The
Artist's Way that helps me when I get down on myself. She says, and I am paraphrasing here, that we are
all creative, that creativity is god's gift to us and our use of it is our gift back. I love that. And it really helps get me back on track when I get in a funk.
5. Can you give some advice to folks who would like to do what you do?My advice would be to try anything that sounds like fun! You just never know what will speak to you or open something up in you that you might have never known you had. Also, make work for you, not to please others. Your creative voice is unique and listening too much to others can drown it right out of you. Plus I think the work that people are most drawn to is the work that really sings the song of its creator. Many times I think the criticisms that
others throw around is just a symptom of their own stymied creativity and has very little to do with the work they are criticizing. So make work YOU love, and the rest will take care of itself.
