San Diego Women Film Foundation Collage Workshop

Recently,I had a wonderful opportunity to work with the San Diego Women Film Foundation at their annual thank you dinner. I led an art project where each member was given a square of canvas that they were responsible for expressing themselves on. They were asked o reflect on their year of events, classes and community work and create a peice of collaged art that was specific to their experienices. Each square will be sewn into a large canvas that I created with collaged materials and painting.

Creative Energy

I am feeling a creative energy that has been missing for a while and it feels good. Completing the graffiti project was really a fun accomplishment and it really gave me a lot of inspiration. I finally took a risk and really went wild in creating something without any boundaries, no worries about approval, I created something for me and the outcome has been rewarding. I have gotten so much postitive feedback and interest and it really gives me so much confidence to continue moving forward with my art and being open to take some chances and put myself out there.

Being an artist is strange, at times it feels like a burden- always feeling like I gotta keep going, keep making things, feeling like I have to somehow make it as a true artist but then you go through times of feeling dried up, like the inspiration is gone and you will never get it back and then something sparks an idea and you act on it, you make your idea become a reality and then all of sudden you are knee deep in creative energy and paint and making a wonderful mess. It is like a high- this process of creating something from nothing and when you are done, when your idea is complete you go back to square one- sometimes with new ideas, sometimes with no ideas and so the process starts over again and again and again...

Christmas Ornaments

Here is a small sample of the line of about 25 handmade ornaments that I make every holiday season and once again it is that time of year! But this will be the first time in 5 years that I won't be pushing to sell ornaments. There is just not enough time this with everything else going on in my life so if anyone would like custom ornaments please let me know and we'll figure something out otherwise I will get back in the groove next year!

Graffiti Project

So I completed this huge project for our hall- a series of really large graffiti murals that incorporated collage, painting, and graphics and it was so much fun to work on. I even got my husband Andy to contribute his own cool doodles and drawing to some of the painings. The finished products are amazing!

More Favorites

One of my most favorite paintings that I did recently was one that my dad asked me to paint for him to go in his studio space. Being a die hard surfer and lover of all "things ocean" he asked me to do a simple painting of a wave, (a left of course) and the final product turned out great, espcially with all the texture that you can see on the surface.


Another favorite piece that I have is a large painting that was chosen to be a poster for the Portland Women's Resource Center. The posters were sold to raise money for the program which was pretty cool. The orginal painting is collage on wood with acrylic painting over the collage. I loved this particular piece and I really loved that it could be used for a cause that I really believed in.

Collage Favorites

I have always loved to work in collage and I love the way that layers look. When painting, I often write or collage on my wood or canvas and then paint on top of it. I find that this adds a lot of texture as well add a sense of mystery. I carefully decide what areas of the back ground collage I want to show through and be revealed through the top layer and image. I use all sorts of collage material- movie tickets, receipts, notes, list, journal entries, newspaper articles and sometimes even trash!

Whimsical Favorites

Whimsical is often my favorite theme to create with, I have always been inspired by folk art and outsider art. For years I have painted and drawn character that show up over and over again- many times women and often taken from my own life- people I know, pets, and memories. These whimsical paintings are always full of color and fun and often are a narative about my own life. These are just a few of my whimsical favorites.

My Life- My Art-About me

So for those of you out there who don't know anything about me...my name is Alisa Burke and by day I currently work at the .University of San Diego as a Marketing Coordinator. By night- My husband and I live on campus in upper classman dorms and participate in a program called Wisdom for the Real World. The program selects USD faculty and staff to live and mentor students in hopes of preparing them for life after college. In exchange for free rent and some other perks, I work about 10-15 hours per week in the evenings on everything from putting on workshops to having our home open for student to drop in
It has really been an amazing and crazy experience!!
I also work as much as I can as a freelance artist, art and the creative process is my life. It keeps me happy and healthy and grounded. I have been doing everything from workshops to commission projects to handmade ornaments for the holidays. I currently have my hands in all sorts of stuff and one day hope to retire from the day job so I can concentrate full time on art.