Plan to attend an outstanding juried art show… Art Fair on the Green… in La Crosse, Wisconsin, July 26/27. Mississippi River map artist, Lisa Middleton, will be featuring her hand-painted historic Mississippi River maps, including the “IOWA/WISCONSIN TERRITORY” map shown here.
Lisa at Seattle’s BEST OF THE NORTHWEST. Coming soon, Lewiston, Idaho, and Seattle over Memorial Day Weekend. Check out the current show schedule under the SHOP button. NEW for Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River… Lisa has designed and illustrated her first art map from scratch!
It started last summer.
Got a call for 2 overnight Giclees…
OH NO only 1 in stock…Had to disassemble a personal framed copy!
Then I discovered….the customer wanted them both abused, beat up and mangled! This required special attention! They were to be a prop in a MOVIE!
OUT came the coffee grinds! OUT came the steel wool!
I rubbed them in dirt, doused them with grime, creased them outside in, inside out, upside down. Soaked them, dried them, soaked soaked again.
I was so excited and I was happy to spend the rest of the evening manhandling them. Usually I handle the museum quality giclees with such tenderness…this felt like a violation! Abomination!
I woke up early the next morning and roughed them up some more and met the overnight deadline. Now months later I’m able to see the maps as props in the Music video! Great music by the way. You can see it here.
I’m so proud! I love the little surprises of being an artist and contributing to a larger story!
This is me spending a romantic snowy evening in the print shop waiting for my Idaho Map to be scanned and printed for delivery by Christmas!
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I had so much fun at my first show I was ready for another!
A gun show was occurring at the same location the following weekend for three days for less than half of what I paid for my booth at the craft show so I said sure, “Men love maps!”
I was ready with my kakhi and olive green, military sweater; I was ready to talk about hunting and game, and I was ready to talk maps. I was ready for flannel, camo, plaid, and carharts.
It was fun. Not much for sales but I did get lists of books to read up on my Montana history. I also learned about David Thompson, a mapmaker and explorer who arrived at the Columbia River George 10 years prior to Lewis and Clark. He’s known for his prolific and accurate maps. I also found out about a fun Rendezvous my Mom and I will attend in North Dakota in June as vendors.
I’m glad I went! I didn’t have much else to do with my weekend! What can I say? I’m hooked! I love being an artist and representing my work. I think there’s a real future for me, and I think I can almost really have my dream job (at least nights and weekends!)
Please Visit my website: www.greatriverarts.com
and Subscribe to my fun and humorous posts under “Lisa R Middleton” on Facebook!
You can also find “Great River Publishing” and “Great River Arts”