ASU chalk scribe spreads encouragement
Those who enter Arizona State University's Tempe campus via the Lattie Coor Hall breezeway are often treated to messages drawn on the outdoor chalkboard, signs that are sometimes political, sometimes humorous, and often encouraging.
Those encouraging ones, the sweetly scrolled signs of uplifting sayings? Those come courtesy of ASU student Lisa Johnson.
Johnson — a natural doodler — has long walked that breezeway each day on her way to class, and eventually the black slate panels called to her. She started drawing encouraging sayings in the fall 2014 semester. She began signing them with her Instagram handle, lisalove137, about a year later.
“Chalk is my favorite medium of art, because it’s so ephemeral,” said Johnson, a speech and hearing senior from the Tulsa, Oklahoma, area.
She continues drawing because she feels it adds a sense of community. In time, the messages get smeared, then erased.
"I got what I wanted out of it," she said.
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People pass through the Coor Hall breezeway as Johnson works on an early September message. "I've met a lot of nice people; they sit down and tell me their life story."
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Johnson has never taken an art class. As a community adviser in the Hayden residence hall filled with designers and artists, she said she's a bit jealous of the residents' creativity. “I doodle a lot. I’m one of those learners who has to be drawing during a lecture. ... I drew in high school, but I was so bad at it.”
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Johnson had never done lettering until the Coor Hall breezeway. The first one was her "Evolve" sign.
Photo by Lisa Johnson
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Johnson doesn’t think there are any rules about drawing on the outdoor chalkboard. At least, "I hope there are no rules. No one has given me any guff over it." She doesn’t mind if someone erases her signs: "As long as someone uses it, I don't care."
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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"This random person asked, 'Would you design my tattoo?' on Instagram." Johnson says she will if he gets back to her.
Photo by Lisa Johnson
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What’s her inspiration? "I usually just write how my day was." For instance, before drawing "Kindness changes everything," Johnson said she had been overwhelmed by kindness lately.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Usually Johnson doesn't sketch out her work before she starts, but she comes with ideas. From the time she starts cleaning the wall with a damp rag, to when she finishes signing her work, she'll be sketching, erasing and redrawing for a couple of hours.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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There was someone who posted a picture of one a while back — her "Seize your day" sign — with the caption, "Don’t tell me what to do." "And I thought, 'Oh my God!'" Johnson said with a laugh. She still does them, though.
Photo by Lisa Johnson
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Though Johnson enjoys caligraphy, she said, “I don’t really like to draw. If I draw, it’s like brain diagrams [in her classes], and no one needs to see those.” Her grandmother was a shorthand competition winner, and she passed her books to her granddaughter. Johnson said she always loved her grandmother's handwriting.
Photo Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Johnson shows off her finished message on the chalkboard in the Coor Hall breezeway. She'll likely have a new doodle in a few weeks.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Students come and go from finals past Johnson's encouragment in early December, "Finish Strong."
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now
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Johnson has a couple of signatures she uses on her work. Most though, have her Instagram name of lisalove137: Lisa Love was a high school nickname, and 137 is her favorite number.
Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now