ECVA - Lisa Thorpe - Stories from the Road

Sea to Sky and Back Again

Fabric, hand printed and hand dyed, stitching
33 x 54"

Artist Statement: Sometimes the most important journeys are the ones you did know you needed to go on. Awhile back my husband and I were struggling with some hard decisions. Decisions about making a big uprooting change that would not just affect us but our demi adult son and my aging mother living with us as well. We had a great deal of angst and lack of clarity that seemed to be affecting all layers of our lives. We didn’t set out on this hike as a balm for our worries but somehow clarity came in our exhaustion.

The hike we endeavored began at the Pacific Ocean just north of Jenner in Northern California. We started early it was a 17 miles round trip. We packed a lunch and water and headed up. The beginning was a chorus of gulls circling the small rocky beach with crashing white waves. We began our climb up through grassy cow grazing land, then into a wood land of oaks and bay trees. We took a break for lunch at a small stream still not to the top and our halfway point. A sign warned of the impending steep climb, we looked at each other and nodded – onward. The last 2 miles were a hard push. Part way up I left my back pack to lighten the load and pushed on, panting and resting every 10 or 12 feet in this arduous climb. Near the peak a raven pair began to circle and call and cheer us on, “you can do it, you’re almost there” they seemed to say. We made it! Proud of ourselves we soaked in the 360 view, ocean to the west more rolling hills to the east. But the return hike called, and we had to make it to the parking lot by dusk or be locked in so back down the way we came, slipping and skidding on the rocky scree. Before crossed the stream again the raven gave us one more pass. When we emerge on the other side of the oak woodlands into the high grassy plain we could hear the faint call of gulls and the sea again.

That night over a glass of wine and a nice dinner we reflected on this day, we were exhausted but buoyant and buoyed by the accomplishment. Why had we chosen such a hike? Why did we push on? We came off the hill that day with resolve that it was time to change our life. Make a bold move – we learned we are strong, together we could face the challenge. A day of letting our bodies take over the journey had taught us what our tangled heart and brains could not. You are strong – one step and then the next – listen for the call of the gulls and the ravens they well sing you on.

This fabric piece documents that journey. The fabrics are all hand printed and dyed. The stitch is both machine and hand stitch. All the elements of the day are there; the sea, the gulls, the rolling hills and woodland, the stream, the peak and sky and of course the ravens.

Bio: As an artist I am an explorer and observer first. I like to wander and wonder, let things percolate while I ponder. I have numerous sketchbooks full of chicken scratch drawings and cryptic thoughts. Over time (and often during a long hot shower) an idea will keep rising to the surface, I might even push that thought bubble below the surface, telling it I don’t have time for you, but the best ideas won’t pop and so I move on from thought to action. I have used many mediums over the years from fabric to painting to printing and collage but the unifying thread through all these mediums is a love of the puzzle. I like to problem solve, to piece and play with an idea until it can take shape as a visual idea. I love words and word play so words are often woven in the work and the work is woven in words. Throughout, no matter the medium, I play with the verbal and the visual. In that vein I have and artist journey blog. The blog pushes me to try new things, to play and produce and articulate both visually and in prose my ideas and inspirations. It has been a significant experiment, rewarding and daunting all at once. To create something and then share it with world almost immediately is both thrilling and terrifying. But what is art for if not to share, if not to pique and poke? So that is my goal, my quest my passion, to share art, to have conversations, to both reflect on and reflect back the wonders of the world I navigate. I have been fortunate to be published in both technique magazines such as Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors and in art journals such as Cold Mountain Review and About Place.