#8 Starting the Art Adventure
Sept 13, 2024
London art show invitations through the ages – Eyes blind, Arms Outstretched 2007 | Eyecandy 2006 | X Marks the Spot 2022
So, where were we?
Ah, we’ve finally actually reached 20 years ago! 2004, when I made my first Glass Cathedrals.
Ralph and I were up to our eyebrows in greeting cards, and we’d realised that there are only so many ‘classic yet wholly original’ cards we could come up with about wine and shopping.
To get back on creative track, we decided to hold a giant art exhibition in the East End of London and invited work partners, cartoon fans, friends and family.
Little catch – we had NO ART when we booked the gallery and invited everyone we knew. In fact that was why we did it – we knew our only choice was to MAKE ART so as to avoid humiliation on the opening night. We would never have become artists had we not so recklessly/audaciously announced our intentions to the world.
Our darling Bea at Spitalfields | An overflowing Dray Walk Gallery | Sara enjoys some early Glass Cathedrals
And for one of those first shows, it just so happened I had a pile of £4 IKEA boxes and some moth-eaten model railway figures lying about the house…
So I made my very first little scenes in boxes.
Four original Glass Cathedrals from that time survive, in pride of place in my parents’ house. Seen below, in order from least esoteric to oh-my-god-what?, and then a keeper at the end…
Smoking kills
If anyone wanted to make small talk, he’d pull out his wife Edna and they could talk to her
Louis’ family weren’t too happy when he covered them in plaster-of-paris and sacrificed them in the name of Art. But there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it
And lastly, below – The world is a scary place, but I have armbands – 2004 and 2024
Can you believe it? This bestselling Glass Cathedral design was one of the very first I ever made.
Some unrealised early sketches of Glass Cathedral ideas, I should make them don’t you think?
To be honest, when I sold out of those first boxes, my instinct was “Well, that’s boxes done, now I’m going to move on to a series of gold leaf portraits of Leonard Cohen” .
Lennie forever | Some of Ralph’s amazing inken shnitzens | Endless sketches of Ralph sleeping
Ralph and I certainly did both continue to make random art, but he suggested I focus primarily on the miniature worlds. People had responded so positively, I’d sold out (so rare for art) and I loved making them. Wise words as 20 years later I have made thousands more of those funny little boxes.
Some of those very earliest designs, like ‘armbands’ above, are still my most beloved Glass Cathedrals and live in homes all over the world.
Early designs – Cleanliness is next to Godliness | The Nightjob | All the Days
Ralph and I have continued to keep ourselves and our loyal fans busy with regular shows over the past 25 years, inspiring us to create more more more.
X Marks the Spot – a recent joint show at The Dray Walk Gallery, Truman’s Brewery 2022
I do love being a one-trick-pony but perhaps now is the time to challenge myself once again. Have I become a little too comfortable in my practise?
Maybe it’s time to wiggle my toes, stretch my wings… start making those lioness headdresses I dream of, mermaid capes, mobiles of tiny people falling, beaded time travelers’ pendants… gold leaf Leonard Cohen portraits? Watch this space.
Anyway, good to be back after many weeks away from writing! I’ll try keep up the good work.
Love Lisa
1. The Short Origin Story ✔
2. The Long Origin Story ✔
3. A Treasure Trove of Small Stories ✔
4. Africa in My Blood ✔
5. Oppositting with Ralph ✔
6. Harold’s Planet – The Original Joyful Failure ✔
7. The Joy of Many Failures: Last Lemon Productions ✔
8. Starting the Art Adventure ✔
9. 2009 – The World of Custom Commissions
10. 2012 – Wedding Portraits Galore
11. Glass Cathedrals of My Very Own Life
12. 2015 Project 1: One Small Thing (maybe not?)
13. 2016 Project 2: This is What Humanity Looks Like
14. 2016 Project 3: The Traveling Bookbox Show
15. 2018 Project 4: The Swerling Circus of Small
16. 2019 Project 5: Here, it’s Beautiful California
17. 2019 Project 6: Cinerama
18. 2020 Project 7: Starstuff
19. Why I Love What I Do
20. TBC