Lacy Pearson
The ART of IMPROV
Born and raised in Utah, Lacy Pearson is a self taught artist living in Indiana. Her early education and career was in the medical field. In 2007 she moved to the Midwest and within a few years became a wife and mother. Embracing this new role and attempting to balance the challenges it presented, she found solace in her love for creative expression. She spent 10 years exploring and experimenting with many different mediums. It was when she discovered fluid paints and inks that her passion for painting was ignited. Her paintings begin with a carefully mixed color palette and the intent to play. She utilizes pouring, her hands, air, brushes and gravity to guide the inks. She also makes use of acrylic paints, watercolor, pastels, and metal leafing throughout her work. Lacy lives, works, and studies in Carmel, Indiana. She loves spending time with her husband, 3 children and her sweet dog Piper. Beyond art, she dedicates her time to family, friends, yoga, travel, and supporting the local community. I am happy to introduce you to Lacy and here work with improvisation.
Tied Together in a Dream Lacy Pearson
What does working improvisationally mean to you? How would you define the ‘Art of Improv’?
It means to create moment to moment using my intuition or gut feeling rather than relying on a plan.
Have you always worked improvisationally?
No, I haven’t. I have been creative my whole life and truly need to have a project at all times. Until I began working with inks I found myself flitting from one creative pursuit to the next, experimenting and enjoying but never really finishing anything. I always loved learning new techniques and mediums but found it impossible to push myself to dive more deeply with any one of them. I now realize that it is my perfectionist tendencies and high expectations of what the outcome should be that prevented me from developing more with these mediums.
Painting with alcohol ink naturally forced me to start working improvisationally. Not only was I fascinated to watch the pigments move and flow, but the uncontrollable fluidity and fast drying nature of the medium forced me to focus closely on what was happening at that moment. I had to use improvisation because I didn’t have time to stop and analyze. I needed to make quick decisions based on my gut feeling. It was amazing. The work I was making felt more genuine than anything I’d done before.
Working improvisationally has opened up a whole new creative world for me. My ability to feel my intuition has strengthened and I find myself relying on my inner voice more than ever before. I’m also able to use my improv skills with other mediums that were previously discouraging. I still make lots of mistakes but it’s ok because I realize that creating is so much more about the process than the final product. It has given me the confidence that I can work through mistakes and push myself to get better and better.
Do you work improvisationally, consciously, intentionally? If so, how do you begin? If not, how do you find yourself getting there?
I intentionally work improvisationally but I have to work to get myself there. I start my studio time by tidying up my mess from my previous painting session. I don’t clean up at the end of my sessions because I can’t seem to ever pull myself away from painting until the last possible second and never leave time. However, I don’t like working in a mess so it just works for me to start by cleaning up. This helps bring my attention to my space and materials. It sets a tone of respect or reverence for the painting session I’m about to begin. I also pay attention to how I’m feeling and what thoughts have been on my mind. This helps me determine what colors or materials I want to work with. Then I give myself permission to play. Starting my painting time this way helps to block out everything that is calling for my attention outside of the studio so I’m able to focus on what is happening on my panel or paper for that space of time.
Friction Becomes Illumination Lacy Pearson
How often do you work with improvisation?
During the actual painting process, always. When I try to paint in a hurry or with grand plans I do not produce work that feels authentic. There is some planning regarding size and color palette, but my intention is to play in order to lessen the likelihood of becoming attached to a specific outcome.
Please share a bit about your process. Do you have methods to getting started? Do you have tricks to getting unstuck? Do you have motivators to finishing up?
I always begin my paintings with lots of fluid and ink and get messy. I get the pigments down quickly, start moving everything around and then watch what happens. Everything moves and changes pretty rapidly at this stage so I have to work fast. This first layer sets the stage for the entire piece so it’s crucial to pay attention. I add more of some colors and remove others while guiding the pigments into place as they dry. Once this layer is dry I sand down some sections to a faint whisper of color and add layer upon layer of translucent color to other areas until the piece feels harmonious to me.
I often get stuck during the middle stage of a painting. Something feels off but I’m indecisive about how to move forward. When this happens I find it helpful to pause and move the painting to a different location. Luckily my studio space is in my house so I move the unfinished work to my kitchen/ living area where I will walk by it often. I leave it there and observe it at random times throughout the day until the next step comes to me. Sometimes I know my next step right away and other times it takes a day or two for it to come. Luckily my family is just used to seeing random paintings everywhere and don’t mind!
The finishing process usually includes applying metal leafing the sides of the panels and can be tedious so I save several paintings to finish at the same time. Though it isn’t exciting I enjoy this process because I save my favorite podcasts to listen to during these sessions. It makes the time fly by and it feels amazing to have a finished painting ready to hang.
Where do you find inspiration? How do you use it?
Nature is my main source of inspiration. I am endlessly in awe of creation and transformation in the world all around me and I love to contemplate the process of transformation and question why things are the way they are. My paintings are a way for me to express these deeply felt emotions in a physical way. Poetry, philosophy, and music help me come up with titles in order to give my viewers more insight into what I am trying to convey.
Burning Furiously Beautiful Lacy Pearson
What advice would you give to someone interested in trying to work improvisationally. Can you share some good advice that you received that helped you become more comfortable this way?
I think someone wanting to work improvisationally has to give themselves permission to make mistakes. I have to remind myself daily that mistakes are not only o.k. but they’re necessary for growth. You also have to let go of controlling the outcome and enjoy the process. Allow yourself to play and have fun!
Best advice I’ve received... just breathe. This was advice not given in the context of making art, but for dealing with anything difficult in life. I learned this from my favorite yoga instructor. We tend to hold our breath when experiencing any kind of tension or anxiety. The simple act of consciously breathing creates space for the tension to relax within the body and mind.
How would you finish the sentence, ‘What if, . . .?’
What if children were taught to practice and hone their improv skills in school? Can you imagine the confidence and freedom this would give our kids?!
What are reading, listening to, watching, or any other inspirational obsessions you would like to share?
I am completely obsessed with podcasts. I love to listen to discussions of philosophy, science, spirituality, and art. My current top 5 are: Armchair Expert, Super Soul, Making Sense, Art for Your Ear, and The Art History Babes. My all time favorite book about creativity is Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read or listen to the audio version at least once a year because I get something different from it every single time.
I love to play and experiment with different materials and I’m currently learning to work with encaustic. For those who aren’t familiar, encaustic is a mixture of melted beeswax and dammar resin (tree sap). Pigments are added to the hot wax mixture and then applied to a surface in layers, fusing each layer with heat in between. Once the wax is cooled it can be scraped, carved, or repeatedly melted down again. Encaustic provides me with a combination of painting and sculpture and it is oh so fun to play with!
Lacy, thank you so much for joining me and sharing your work and process with us all. I appreciate it so much and relate to your enthusiasm of finding your art. Although my process does not come together quite as quickly I completely relate to getting lost in the process and appreciate that this is the gift of it all. I too have my studio at home and my family can relate to art laying out everywhere while I think on it, I think it will be so interesting to see how this impacts them, but only time will tell! I definitely think it is beneficial for our kids to see us pursuing our passion. And yes!, what if all children were taught to practice and hone their improv skills and thus develop a trust in their own creative voice. I think the near future will adjust as we are already realizing that our education system is failing us in so many ways. I am a huge supporter of public schools and believe that all teachers, but especially those in the public school system are true gifts that deserve so much more respect and compensation for the huge role they play in all of our futures. Pardon the side track but thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on that!!!
Big Magic! Yes! Me too! It really is, the biggest! I am so happy you found yours and thank you for sharing it with us all! To see more about Lacy’s process check her out on Instagram here and be sure to check out her website here.