Innovation is difficult.

It forces you to stretch yourself and expose yourself in ways that you never expected to. You make sacrifices too, which can feel like hot wax on bare skin. Painful, but that initial commitment makes the overall process less painful. Unless of course you delay. Then the wax cools and the hair pull hurts more than the first wax application.

Whether a fast or slow decision, you eventually do have to pull the hairs out… but the aesthetic benefit soon becomes apparent. You see, those hairs can grow, but it is only with focus and determination that we can shape them into a beautiful set of eyebrows, a glowing beard, or even with clean shaven legs.

Only then can we become a work of art.

This might seem like kind of a weird example to lead into this month’s AMAZING interview, and an amazing interview it is, but I promise the metaphor will make sense shortly. You see dear readers, true innovation doesn’t come from no where.

Even if a statement like “… [is] a work of art” sweeps the Twitterverse on a particular day or over the course of a week (April 15, 2016), someone spent the time crafting a public persona and was able to authenticate that statement and help make it noteworthy for millions. The masses are fickle, but the artist can be committed to innovation.

Yeah that “… [is] a work of art” actually did became a popular thing to tweet for a bit there. Whether I decide to make a great metaphor for growth and the beauty of humanity.

But, as I mentioned already, it’s not true innovation. And a work of art is steeped in more than just hair pull metaphors that suggest people’s bodies can simply be works of art on their own. Or can art do that?

Can art build off of what already exists, and cause self-reflection? Or better yet, cultural shifts?

That’s where episode 8 of timotheories interviews comes in.

 

Lisa Jones is a visual artist with abilities to rival the best of them – painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. But she prefers to specializes in painting with oils. And she makes images through her own personal metaphors, both refining and simultaneously obliterating narratives and materials at the same.

She recognizes that becoming an artist and maintaining a practice requires a combination of effort, innovation through necessity, and building a future for herself that doesn’t include regular visits to the local watering hole.

But you should take a look at the interview for yourself, because it’s literally just below you. It’s my most innovative interview yet. I promise.

And as always, if you want to check out more timotheories interviews or the Cross Talk series please visit our YouTube channel.  And please, please, please leave some comments and of course subscribe to both the blog and channel!

Please also check out Lisa’s website to see her portfolio and to contact her for her creative services.

And of course my sincerest thanks to Lisa for being lively, likeable, and legitimately lovely. See you tomorrow with a hymn worthy music review.

Tim!