Featured Artist: The Red Thread

When Lisa Tilse from The Red Thread contacted Udessi, I instantly fell in love with her work. Her enthousiasm & passion shows through in all her artworks, and her attention to detail puts the finishing touch on each of her lovingly created pieces. We are very proud to be featuring some of her gorgeous work in the Udessi online gallery!

We asked Lisa a few questions about herself and her work to get to know her a little bit better...

SushiBird Tiles
24 x 24cm, collage on wood

'Manami Twig' Sushibird Tile

'Manami Twig' Sushibird Tile (detail)

Q. Please tell us a little bit about yourself
A. "I am a freelance graphic designer, artist and a mum. And I love all my roles. I live in Sydney with my husband and nearly-five-year-old daughter, and our 3 chickens.

I have always been creative and loved to create – it's just who I am. I knew from a very young age that I wanted to 'do something to do with art' when I grew up. When I found out about graphic design I knew it was my dream career. I have a degree in Visual Communications (Design) and have worked as a senior designer in London and Sydney. I still really enjoy doing corporate design jobs and love the balance of also being an artist and working without the constraints of a client's brief."

'Enjoy' timber greeting card

Q. What is your creative background and how long have you been creating your art?
A. "I feel lucky to have had a mother with a wonderful design aesthetic and an appreciation of art which became a natural part of my childhood and upbringing. I have always created art, starting with using boxes, bags, wrapping paper or anything I could lay my hands on when I was small. I have always been drawn to creative expression and have a strong desire to create and be surrounded by beautiful things. As well as my design degree I have also studied fabric design and printing, photography, painting, mosaics, decoupage, quilting and ceramics. I started The Red Thread in 2005 when I created a portrait of my daughter Roxy which resulted in portrait commissions and other art which I sell from my website. I still do children's portraits and I love capturing the essence of a child in my vibrant, graphic, digital illustrations. I feel very blessed to be able to do what I love for a living."

'Sakura Blossom' SushiBird Tile

Q. Where, what or who do you draw your inspiration from?
A. "I draw inspiration form many sources: traditional arts and crafts of many cultures, nature, travel, other artists, as well as everyday things. I have collections of vintage and modern fabrics, buttons, ribbons, and trims as well as decorative papers, old china, and many other miscellaneous things that I can't bear to part with as they inspire me whenever I look at them.

I am passionate about art and design and it colours every aspect of my life. I don't have an off switch and I'm continually – both consciously and subconsciously – absorbing everything around me. I always have a sketchbook on hand and I'm forever jotting things down or drawing little bursts of inspiration.

I'm totally addicted to reading blogs and I'm so inspired by the wonderful and diverse worldwide creative community. It's such a great feeling of connection to have when you work from home. There are some amazingly talented people out there and it's definitely an inspiration being able to read about and see the creative process of others."

Q. What can you tell us about your work?
A. "It's continually changing. I’m always creating new things and I'm bursting with ideas. I've diagnosed myself with creative ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) because I am continually going off on a tangent with some material I've recently discovered or a new design influence. I've always got a million things in my head and in my journals that I want to get started on.

I like my work to be simple in structure and composition, I guess that's the graphic designer in me. I wanted to convey that sense of purity of form in my SushiBird tiles – a nod to the Japanese aesthetic.

At the moment a lot of my work is on timber. I like the way that the grain and warmth of the material itself becomes a design element. Again, it's about that sense of purity of form... I don't want to mask or change the timber, but rather allow it be an integral element of the artwork.

I love collage. I love the idea of repurposing something, like the page from an old book, a handwritten letter or an old bus ticket, and giving it a new context and meaning. It allows something that may have been overlooked to have a new life and to be 'seen' again."

'Love Tree' timber greeting card

Q. Where do you create your art and what is your workspace like?
A. "I have an office/studio which is the spare bedroom in our house, but I create most of my art on the dining table. I like to be able to spread out, and I feel a bit restricted in my room because of the computer, the paperwork and the reminders of the corporate world. Our dining table is in the living area at the back of our house which opens on to our little garden and is always flooded with light and sun, so I find it very conducive to being creative. I am a Virgo and a perfectionist - so everything is ordered and stored in labelled boxes and shelves. I can't function if my workspace is a mess... the mess somehow gets into my head and I can't think straight!"

'Natsuki Bamboo' SushiBird Tile

'Natsuki Bamboo' SushiBird Tile (detail)

Q. Can you share one thing with us that most people wouldn’t know about you?
A. "I love bungee jumping! I've only done it a few times, but it was such a rush. I did it in New Zealand off a bridge and I absolutely loved it. I really wanted to sky dive too, but since becoming a mother I feel it would be a bit reckless of me to do that sort of thing now."

'Love Takes Flight' timber greeting card

Q. What are your goals/aspirations for the future?
A. "I want to continue to do what I love: creating. I'd love to explore technologies like laser cutting and be able to utilise them in my creative process. I'd also like to explore commercial surface and pattern design which I see as a bit of a crossover between design and art. What I most aspire to is to have the time, space and resources to allow me to be creative without the restriction of having to pay the bills... art for art's sake!"

Q. If you were to collaborate with other artists on an artwork, what would your dream project be?
A. "That's a hard one. I love the idea of any collaborative art. I don't think I have a dream project as such, but I have been thinking a lot recently about the idea of collaborating with a ceramicist or sculptor. I'm very much a 2D thinker, and I like the idea of my two dimensional designs or artworks being applied to or taking on a 3D form."

Thank you Lisa for taking the time to tell us a little more about yourself!

Click here to view Lisa's works on the Udessi Online Gallery.