New Era, New Signature

This is my first blog post for my website. I will be the first to tell you that the topic is a bit boring because it’s quasi-obligatory. Why? See, somewhere along the line I know I’ll be asked, “why do 40 of your works have a different signature than your recent works?” And then, instead of saying “Because.” with a mysterious smile because the answer is 10 minutes, I can refer the questioner to this blog post. Genius, eh?

A little background, first. I’ve always appreciated and liked my name. Since 2012 (and maybe earlier) I signed my work with it: “Lisa Marie.” That is, until Christmas 2024, when I changed my signature.

Now, meet “LMAC” (at least, on paper…meaning, don’t start calling me this).

I remember shortly after I became a full-time soft pastel artist, my Dad asked me about my signature. He wanted to know how I decided on size, placement, color, medium, etc. Truth be told, I didn’t decide any of that. I just signed my first and middle name on autopilot (even though any “autopilot” is the result of zillions of micro-decisions). Still, I was curious as to why he was so interested in my signature. Not one to waste asking “the further question” (a la philosopher Bernard Lonergan), I realized that his questions revealed a deeper question that I myself could ask: why was I not all that interested in my own signature on my own artwork? Why was the physical manifestation of my artistic identity as captivating to me as - in the words of columnist Dave Barry - a potted fern? Just kind of sitting there out of obligation, passed by, maybe worthy of a glance or occasional watering? That is not how I saw myself…so, shouldn’t my signature be a bit more intentional? Of course.

Along came my pastel of Saint Anthony of Padua. I was ready to sign it on Christmas night, and I really wanted to sign it with my new favorite pastel: an ultramarine Henri Roche stick. But for signatures, it’s best to use a sharp edge which involves, often enough, breakage - and I did not want to break this beautiful, expensive French pastel. A natural outgrowth of my pastel-preservation-initiative was the desire for a short signature in print letters in which sharpness wasn’t crucial. I also reasoned that a shorter signature would make it more “final” to me. And I further reasoned that if I’m signing my name and I’m a Catholic artist, I want to somehow include my confirmation name, Alexandra (the “A” in LMAC).

So on the day we celebrate Christ the Savior being born, so was my artistic identity - given by Him - reborn.