Pigtails and Combat Boots

My name is Lisa Sikorski, I’m a pharmacist by trade, artist and writer by heart. I grew up in Chicago, IL, heavily influenced by the 80’s goth scene, especially The Cure, and this is reflected in a lot of my artwork. I like to attempt to produce art that is attractive and yet also unsettling to some degree, hence the name of my store, “Pigtails and Combat Boots”! Kind of like something cute, but with a “bite” to it, which is kind of how I view myself, actually. I’ve been drawing since I as 4 years old, starting out with drawing countless pictures of Snoopy. I took some Art classes in high school that helped me polish my technique and other than that, I’ve pretty much been on my own, learning to use different mediums through my own exploration. At the moment, my favorite tools to use are watercolor pencils and a super-fine black ink marker. I also have a degree in English, so I like to use references to literature in a lot of my artwork, especially of the Renaissance period, or relating to the Legends of King Arthur. I like to attempt artisan craft projects that are interesting to me, which led me to learning to make jewelry, which I sell, as well as other crafty stuff like decoupage boxes, polymer clay sculpture and a whole lot more! I currently live in Mesa, AZ and after 14+ years as a retail pharmacist I’m realizing that I really need to accomplish something with my artwork in order to be completely fulfilled and happy. My ideal goal would be to be successful enough to leave my pharmacist career and become a full-time artist. My ultimate goal is to explore the gothic fantasy worlds floating around in my mind and to share these worlds with you through my artwork! Other than that background stuff, other things I enjoy are...comic books, watching SyFy (especially Stargate) and Chiller channels, catering to my alien dog Blitzen (a slightly psychotic American Eskimo), watching "Torchwood", wicca, metaphysical studies, all things goth, being sarcastic and pondering the sanity of the human race after 14+ years of working in retail. There's so much more but that's about all my brain can spit out right now.