My actual name is Stacey Lucas, but the business name Veggie Art Girl traces back to my roots at my first artsy job, where I drew large vegetables on chalkboards in a grocery store. I saved every penny from that job to put myself through college, where I earned a BA in Art and a minor in English at Plymouth State University in beautiful Plymouth, NH. Art degree in hand, I set out to make the crazy life I wanted to live, and every day I work towards creating that. (And now, twenty years later, I am back at it…finishing up my Masters Degree in Integrated Arts at PSU!)
You should also know that my friends all call me Fig. A four year old named Breckin named me Fig years ago, and it stuck like glue. I have a fig leaf tattoo and my new barn gallery is called Fig Tree in Ashland, NH. So yes, you can call me Fig. But please, under no circumstances should you ever call me Kiddo. For some deeply rooted, unexplainable reason, I really hate that.
That crazy life I live includes being mommy to a sweet little boy named Harper, who makes me laugh every day. Being a good mom is the most rewarding and challenging job I have ever had. In 2014, I purchased the home of my dreams- a bright yellow, crooked, 1877 farmhouse that I am passionately tailoring bit by bit to match my retro, colorful style. I’m a lover of (in no particular order): thrift stores, sushi, traveling, hula hooping, dancing, making outrageous costumes, cooking delicious meals, live music, classic Nintendo games, interior design and painting the world in color and swirls. Everything needs more color and swirls.
Nearly 2 decades after that first creative job, I’m a self-employed freelance artist, living in the mountains of New Hampshire. My work has been all over the map, from classic renditions of landscapes to figure drawing to larger than life murals on the sides of buildings. Though I have a classically trained eye, I most enjoy creative expression in the form of doodles, swirls and pure whimsy. A great teacher of mine once told me to look outside the margins of my work to find my true expression, a metaphor that applies to so much of my life. I try not to obsess over perfection or take it all too seriously. Really, if it makes your soul feel good, I say do it.
What I am currently working on: owning an operating my little seasonal art gallery, where
I sell my works (greeting cards, upcycled art and funky signs, oh my!) I paint murals in homes and businesses. I teach painting to all ages. But I am probably most known for my lil’ funky handpainted signs, made out of salvaged wood, barnboard and whatever else I can get my hands on. Really, I just like to make. Anything.
I love to create art out of junk. I love to get messy. Painting words and fonts just makes my heart happy. Also, one time I dipped my entire left blue pigtail in blue paint and didn’t notice until it was dried and stuck to my head. Basically I’m usually covered in paint.
Some days I turn my computery, graphics brain on and some days I keep it shut off and spend the day having a love affair with a mason jar of paintbrushes and canvas. I like to tell people I am fighting the good fight. I’ve never worked harder than I do as an artist, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Want to connect? Shoot me an e-mail and we can talk about your next creative project! (Or Jim Henson. I can go on for hours about the magic that was that man.)
VEGGIEARTGIRL 