“I want art to be a conversation” An Interview with Lyssa Lovejoy

“My father was an artist” was a line that stuck out to me as I listened to Lyssa Lovejoy talk about her art to a crowd of folks gathered in front of her paintings at the Art of the Lakes Gallery in Battle Lake late May of this year. I had made my way to the gallery to finally meet Lyssa in person after having made acquaintances with one another on the current connector for artists living in rural spaces…and everywhere really…Instagram. Lyssa is a natural in front of a crowd, knowing when to sidetrack into a personal story, when to pause for laughter from the crowd and when to share a bit more about her multicultural influences as the daughter of a Black professional musician from Arkansas and an Irish mother. After her father’s passing in 2009 she didn’t touch art for four years. But as she made her way back to painting she reflected on the power of art and “what art can do for one’s spirit.” As I’m interested in the healing elements of painting I wanted to learn more from Lyssa and I was filled with warmth from her hug as we made plans for me to journey to Evansville for a conversation and a studio visit.

Lyssa’s studio is located right off a short block of main street. As I snaked past the large blue grain elevator on the edge of Evansville, and through the short downtown I almost missed her studio. Luckily she shares a space with a local beauty shop and the sign “Hair’s what’s happening” greets studio visitors. Gratefully, Lyssa was outside to wave me down having just unlocked her door for the morning that we met. I left filled with a spirit of connection as two painters can quickly develop, Lyssa asking, “do you hate wasting paint?” was incredibly resonant to me, because absolutely I do! Those of us who know the cost of a tube of paint truly know what a precious resource it is. She lent me a book and we have plans for Lyssa to come visit my studio next. She’s always been telling stories as you’ll read in her own words, and I hope that you’ll enjoy her reflections here on healing and painting and growing as a person and an artist to inform your own notions of change, growth, creativity and connection. Welcome to a portion of the conversation and community we shared in early June of 2023.

Kandace Creel Falcón (KCF): Well, you had talked in your artist talk about healing, and how you have found healing in painting. You shared a little bit about the ways that you've done that in your work with other people. So I'd love to hear you share just a little bit more about how has painting helped you heal?

Lyssa Lovejoy (LL): So growing up with an artist's family, I did a lot with my father. So I was always like, right there. Art shows. I was right there. I would help him paint things because he would be mass producing, like little statues. And so I was always there. So there was never me there was my connection with, but never me.

When I'm trying to think when it really started. I did art lessons, I did commissions, I taught watercolor and pen and ink. So everything was for everybody else. So it was never really for me. Even though I sold stuff, it was never really for me. It was what people wanted. Right? So you're giving and giving and giving, and you don't get to know who you are. And then when you start to get to know who you are as an artist, that's when stuff starts to come out, right?

So I think when my father had gotten sick and it was 2007 and we were told he had cancer. My dad has never been sick a day in his life. Like, he just wasn't. But there were things that were leading up to it that I was like, okay, he knew, but he didn't tell anybody. At that point, I went into a different mode. I wasn't a wife mode. I wasn't a mom mode. I was, this is my soulmate mode. And I remember telling my husband at the time, I was like, I need you to know I'm going to be “good for nothing.” And we were already in that tumultuous relationship where we had separated for a couple of years and gotten back together. And then this happened. And I was like, there is going to be no ifs, ands, or buts. He was not close with his parents, but I was like, this is my world. Like, we're close, even though we hate each other half the time. I didn't hate my father or my mom, but there's twelve siblings.

So as I started to do that, I didn't do any art, really. Like there was things I would do it with my kid. And I watched how Jared would paint. And I really loved like he had this intuitive sense. And I started at that point going, gosh, okay, why did he do this? Why did he pick this? Where is he seeing this? And he was painting ducks and things. He didn't know my father very well. When Jared was born, he didn't get to know that side of the family because my husband at the time didn't really like them. And the point that he was painting Canadian Geese and some things, I was like, there is something there. I don't know what it is, but something. And I've kept those pictures. Then I separated from my husband again. And the first picture I painted was very similar to something like this. And that I was talking about how easy it was. And I sat there and Jared was painting on the floor. And I just started going and I was like, nobody's judging me. Why am I judging? Because I had been in so many contests and so many judging, judging, judging. All of a sudden I painted this and I was like, do you swear? Yeah. “I fucking love this! I fucking love this!” And Jared's like, Mommy, “you said a bad word.” I know, but honey, this is a contextual word. I fucking love this. Like, I'm not mad. I loved it. And I couldn't understand how it was so easy and there was so much stuff. And even if and the girl that I gave it to, a friend of mine that had given me some really good advice as having an ex and understanding that whole thing, I gave it to her. Because everyone's on like, can you send me a picture? I just want to see if I feel every single time, and it was never any I was like, I painted that. I'm grown. But it was that energy that I had given to it because it was a breakaway. I am me, and I'm finding who I am, right? So that's where that started.

Then my father passed away, and then I stopped art completely. I didn't do anything, and I started to understand who my father is and what had happened to him in his life and how he started painting and why he did. And I think he knew he was such an intuitive, that's my father right there, and that's all of our siblings.

KCF: Awesome.

LL: So there is an intuitive side to him to understand what he did. And I think that he worked out the trauma, and he had some massive trauma in his world. He was working it out in his paintings. He had these crazy things that would happen in his work. And I started thinking, gosh, is that what I'm doing? And I met with, his name is Alfred Taylor, he’s from Indiana. That's where my parents were. And he asked me, “why aren't you painting anymore?” I had done these t-shirts. They were original t-shirts that I painted stories on. So I've always been telling stories and didn't realize that I was telling stories. And I painted one that was called “the three sisters,” because it was three of my sisters that were there at the end of his life that had been taking care of him, along with my mom and whatnot. And he's like, “do you do these?” And I said, “yeah." He goes, “can you make some?”

And at that time, I knew my worth as an artist, but didn't know my worth as an artist because I didn't look at it that way. He goes, we have this big Shelby, Indiana, has their whole town goes art crazy. They have stuff everywhere. It's not like an art fair, but it's just strange how they do it. And he goes, “can you make some of this? And I'm going to ask you" he had an art gallery, and he says, “I'm going to ask you to do some paintings.” And I'm like, “yeah, that doesn't work for me. For you to say, do some art paintings for me.” He goes, “just do whatever. Just do one.” Okay. I ended up coming up with three. He didn't even get them in the door. All the t-shirts were sold. "Do we have more?” I wasn't there when this happened. He's like, “Lyssa, how can you? Can you make some more of these?” And I was like, “no, they take me… I mean, no.” And I starting doing whatever t-shirts were on sale. I just bought them, and I started doing them. And he was selling for, like, $75 apiece, right? And he goes, “people want to know what's behind these pictures.” So then I started, okay, HGLJ Designs. And then I had the stories like, this is after the story that I heard about this woman, blah blah blah, so people could resonate. I was like, this is so cool. Not that the art was cool, but the idea in my head that I'm doing something, that they were conversations.

I want art to be a conversation. The critical thinking skills that it takes to understand from a person's perspective, not even the artist's perspective. You can look at this picture and this is super not done. You can look at this picture and it takes you to someplace else that it wouldn't even take me, right? And so you're like, oh, this is angry and this is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah. I'm like, oh, but this is so fun. And it's all about experiences. And at that point, I understood the critical thinking skills of when somebody looks at art. So then I started to understand it heals people without understanding how it heals people. Because it's the stories in which they're relating. And now they're talking out loud. And when we talk out loud, what does that do? It releases. It doesn't hold it in anymore. And then people ask more questions.

I started taking some different adventures in understanding what this meant. I went and “The Pathways” after my mother passed away and I took “Renewing Life.” That's what it was called. I couldn't think of the name of it renewing Life. And it was a nine week session, but every week you went there and there was a chapter that you dealt with and it kind of went through the whole idea of getting the news of whatever it was something that was just traumatic and changed you for the rest of your life to the end part of being angry, grieving, joyous and finding the blessing and then what is your new norm? That is when it hit me. At that very point, I knew what kind of artist I wanted to be, that I wanted to have work that people could talk about.

And it wasn't about, oh, look at that horse. What was the horse saying? What was the energy and the movement within the horse? Where was the story and where did it bring you? That is the only way that I could do art that connected with people, right? And I knew that if it connected, it was already sold. And it wasn't about the selling. It was about I needed validation that my story that I was telling was important.

So to go back to the idea of the children telling their story that they could find worth, that people cared about what they said and heard what they said and believed what they said, because isn't it about the belief system that when somebody tells you, this is what happened to me. Oh, sorry, I'm going to get emotional. Huh! Interesting. That you were believed, right? And then you felt validated. And when you can feel validated, whether it’s.. (and not everybody needs validation, I guess, so I don't want to make that assumption,) but it's good when you get it. And that all of a sudden all this junk that you had is gone so that you can get to the next step in your life's journey. Right?

So that's what I've been doing. And through COVID. That's why I asked you about COVID I was working as an artisan, as a fitness professional, and I was like, COVID hit. I was so happy. I was so fucking happy. I'm sorry. I understand. It was a traumatic thing. I think there's a whole lot of things at play that we still, as the people, don't know. And it caused havoc. And I think it was a predecessor to crap that's coming and not a conspiracy theory. But how did we behave as a nation? It tore us apart. It showed us who our friends were. It showed us who we were. But the blessing in that. And I'm always going to look for the blessing. Not the silver lining, but the blessing. It either pushed us to a point where we were becoming who we were meant to be, or it pushed us to realizing the help that we need. Right? And the internal struggles that, oh, my gosh, this is who, this is what, and how did we find that? It pushed me to be what I knew I was supposed to be. And I pushed it away because I thought at some point it wasn't a real thing. Art was real. I understood that you made a living, but that it was my destiny. It sounds so corny. When my mother passed away, the last thing that she said to me was, "Lyssa, God has given you a talent. Do it now.” And that was the last thing that she said to me.

KCF: That's really powerful.

LL: It was. And I knew from that point, I had my first solo art show, because I had always done it with somebody or with my father. Girl, we had 400 people show out. I sold every piece of art there. How in the world did that happen? By the grace of god and the spirit (clap) that he took my parents with me. I did. What did my mom want? I knew she'd want me to dress up and be a lady. My dad. Oh, you got to have music. Okay? And then what do families… what brings people together, especially in Minnesota? Food. Girl, I had a spread. I think I spent $2,000 putting this on. I made all my money back. But it was the point that that was my breakout.

So anyways, that was the moment that I knew that was it. COVID hit. I was like, huh?! This is great. I got time off. I'm a workaholic. I believe in working. I work in the morning, all night, whatever. And I started painting on all of the club walls. I'm like, hey, so I'm just going to do murals everywhere because I did those for a long time when my son was born, and I didn’t go back to teaching school. So I did murals. I hurt so bad after a year of doing murals. Like, I had to get massage. I had to do all of these different things. I had to take… And I called the owners together. I said, “hey, I need to have a conversation with you. I'm done.” And they’re like, “What do you mean you're done?”

“Yeah, I'm not going to come into work anymore. I will be an owner. I'll be on the back end. I'll help you from the back end. I'm done.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Art full time.” Okay. Didn't argue because I teased them. Like, I'm so burnt out. Like, I can only do so much more. In fitness, when you own a club, you're at the top of the top of the top, you're done, right? And so that's what I did. That's what I did. And that is one thing that I bring from my parents. What you say you're going to do, do it. Don't look back. Don't second guess yourself. If it's in you, do it.

And Les Brown, we said, when you are on your deathbed, that all your dreams and all the things you could have done and been are standing around you in loving arms and saying goodbye to you because they die with you. And then I understood what my mom meant when she says, “Go do it now.” Because I knew she saw all of those things that she had given up, that she had done it because she loved my father, that she was raising kids that were not hers, and all the things that she gave. And I was like, Whoo, girl, that was a wave. So I left everything. I said, Jared, my son, he was married at that point. Here's your farmhouse. It's yours. You have it for a year. If you can take care of it, it's yours. And he's done it. I moved, didn't look back. I don't even like going back to Buffalo at this point, right? And I can go anywhere. I ended up going to Evansville, trying to get out of Minnesota, but it didn't happen again. There's plans, and now you're at an age that I know, just sit tight. You're impatient, but sit tight.

So. Healing. Art did all of that through the aspect of being able to see it, to feel it, to do it, to hear the messages, the hidden messages. The show that I just did in Sioux City (Iowa) was called Hidden Messages. And it was understanding what it was saying. Even now I have these pieces. I cannot stand them, but I know that's okay to not like them. And I'm trying to understand. And I walked in today and I had this put away, and I was like, I think I know what it is. This one I'm still trying to understand because there was a horse and a rider behind it. I was like, this is an ugly painting. And I just started throwing colors on. And then, of course, guess what comes out are the two images. I'm like, okay, so it's sitting there, staring at me, talking to me.

And so I sent this to my son. And my son, I swear he's a savant. I swear I don't even know what savant is, but he's one. I sent it to him. He's like “that’s it Mom.”And I'm like, hmmmmmm? I was teaching him from the moment that he was born to look at all art as a story. But that's not the word I used. I asked him to get the feeling from it. What is it telling you? What does that do? What would you do differently? And he has been my eyes and ears ever since. So, that’s why I haven't done anything. I'm sitting there trying to live with it, and I don't hate it, hate it. I hate it because it's not who I thought I was. So, again, evolving. It's always about evolving, right? I've done wildlife forever, and I was bored, and George, my guy's like, "but that's what sells." I'm like exactly. I don't want to do something that's given. I got to pay attention to time. Hold on. I don't want to give something that's given. I'm not painting selling. It will sell when it needs to sell. And it served its purpose. It no longer serves its purpose. And I have to move. You know, if we're starving, sure. I'll do a couple of these, and we'll get them sold, whatever. But we're not starving, so whatever. Anyway, so that's where it is. And so then you can see the colors that I was enjoying.

KCF: It's so fascinating, like, how painting teaches you so much about yourself and the world.

LL (concurrently): Yep, if you're open to learning.

KCF: Yeah, if you’re open to the messages.

LL: Messages yeah, it is. You have to be open. And some people aren't ready, and there's not a lot…So all these little chunkets keep bringing me to I know. And even talking out loud, I know. That I've gotten off track because I started painting again for the point of being ready for a show instead of being ready for me.

KCF: It's so interesting how that cycle happens.

LL: There's a book by Jeannie Carbonetti that I think in fact, do I have it? I'm going to borrow this book to you. You will like it, and if you don't, then you suck. (Laughter) I had gotten this book from a lady probably 20 some years ago in an aqua class that I taught. And she says, Lyssa, when you speak, this is what I think you're saying. Because she goes, It's so strange that you talk like this. And again, until you have something that shows you the language that you have, you don't have the language that you have. This gave me such a language and it changed completely how I was teaching workshops.

KCF: I mean, it looks amazing.

LL: It is really good. And I actually got in touch with her, which I was as giddy, like it was Jesus or something. I was looking for a workshop that I could take with her. I watched videos and she was like, nowhere to be found. I was like, did she die? Nothing. So finally, after searching, I got her email. And I sent her an email and I said, Ms. Carbonetti, your book changed my world in art, blah, blah, blah. And I sent her this thing. Next day I got an email from her. She's like, oh, Lyssa, that was great. I don't do… she's like in her eighties now, I didn't know that. Right? It was, again, another validation that somebody cared enough to know that they made something. She writes painting, Zen painting, and all kinds of things. But that book, to understand the stages of what a person goes through, helped me understand not to be so hard on myself as an artist. Like, there's times right before you get to a show, don't try to push out some paintings because you're in a closed phase. Let it go. Be done with it, because it's going to open again. Just ride those waves.

For more about Lyssa Lovejoy visit her website

Creative Ritual

Wow, June, the official halfway mark of our Gregorian calendar. I have been painting and stitching on a painting in the studio. I've also been trying to bask in the simple pleasures of Minnesota summer, like watching the sun rise over the lake in the gentle coolness of the morning with an iced latte. Back from a Foundation Board meeting and I'm still recalibrating from my time away, ironically this week it all caught up with me instead of last week. But folks have been gentle and given me grace on some due dates I wasn't able to make. The second half of this month I have been focusing diligently on fitting everything else around my painting instead of trying to squeeze my painting in around everything else. This has felt good. Now if it one day will also feel sustained is what I look forward to observing. As we close out Pride month thank you to all the love sent my way. Looking for ideas on how to spread even more love around? Visit the shop or make an ongoing or one time monetary contribution for the creation of this newsletter. Still looking forward to this event in Matfield Green, KS, September 9th, get your tickets today, I'll keep reminding you until we get there! 

Questions to ponder

What messages do you need to be open to hearing? 

The next time you come upon a piece of art ask yourself the questions Lyssa encouraged her son to ask:

What is the feeling you're getting from it? 
What is it telling you?
What does that do?
What would you do differently?

Thanks for journeying with me. I hope, as always, that you take what you need and leave the rest for someone else, or for another time. 

-KCF

The Art of KCF Newsletter is a fiscal year 2023 recipient of a Creative Support for Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.