Based in London, Lisa Jones is an illustrator with a talent for creating distinctive greeting cards. She is influenced by pottery and Scandinavian folklore and has worked on a broad range of design commissions for products and companies such as Habitat and the UK charity, Plan (as well as a few fine numbers for graniph too).
Please tell us a little about something you are currently working on/obsessed with: Creative work has taken a back seat recently; I’m currently moving studios so I’m obsessed with downsizing, junk and the dimensions of buildings, furniture and stairs! As soon as I’m done, I’ll pick up where I left off with a collaborative children’s book (note: now finished) I Choose You.
What are the main obstacles you face to working creatively? My greatest obstacle to creativity is also the aspect people enjoy most about my work, hand-printing. Producing a large volume of small items robs me of the time I’d like to make new illustrations and ideas for projects. Hand printing also means I can use only a limited number of colours in any one piece, though I strive to make them look like more.
What do you do to come up with new ideas or when you are having trouble being creative? Of course, visiting any place that’s unusual always gives a better perspective on your own life and work, but you can’t always be travelling. Slowing-down often helps the ideas flow more freely, a bath instead of shower or a walk/cycle in place of a drive. I also grow vegetables on an allotment, I find the gentle work (surrounded by birds) relaxes my tiny brain enough for problem-solving.
What are some books/websites/bands/etc that you recommend? Like a whole load of people I’m listening to The Dirty Projectors’ Bitte Orca every day now, I’m sure soon I’ll get bored. I’m also reading the autobiography of UK Sci-Fi writer who died earlier this year, J.G. Ballard. Though biographies and Science Fiction are not usually my genres of choice, there are definitely exceptions.
What is the future of the T-shirt? (Does it have one?) Why? As long as us humans have torsos! A few years ago I put a stack of printed T-shirts to the back of my drawers, thinking I was through with them; this year I find they’re creeping to the front again.