Daily Inspiration: Meet Lisa Parnell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Parnell.

Hi lisa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
When I was 17, I began working as a signwriter in the United Kingdom, where I grew up. I dreamt of becoming a graphic designer. I loved typography, but I wasn’t sure how to get there, so I found a small design agency that was a signwriting company, from small pub signs to large murals. Most days, I listened to Radio 2 while carefully painting letters, enjoying the slow, satisfying process of shaping each curve and line.

Looking back, I realize that’s where my journey began. Painting, crafting letters, and working with gold-leaf lettering for pub signs helped shape the direction of my life.

As technology evolved, I moved into graphic design and worked my way up at large and small Advertising agencies, helping to bring brands to life. I loved design and felt grateful to create every day. The job was demanding, with long hours and pressure, especially while raising a family. Even so, my passion for design never faded.

In 2011, I wanted to bridge the creative industry and education by mentoring young designers. Wanting to show them both the exciting and challenging sides of the field, helping them solve visual problems, and get ready for their careers. I earned a postgraduate teaching degree in visual communication design. In 2016, I moved to the United States to pursue my MFA at Kent State University. Teaching became a source of pride as I watched students discover their own voices and stories.

In 2022, while visiting family and friends in my birth home, the UK, we were out visiting a small town in Norfolk, when a man caught my eye, painting on a wall a picture of a sea boat, but what caught my eye the most was that he was painting with a maul stick, one that I used for sign painting. His name was Colin Seal, and he was the local signwriter in the town. We talked about our craft, the patience it requires, and the value of hand-lettering in a fast-paced world.

I was surprised and honored when he gave me his mahlstick, a tool signwriters use to steady their hands. It was worn smooth from years of paint and clearly meant a lot to him.

“I’d like you to have this,” he said. I held onto it tightly.

In 2024, my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Together, we made a list of what she loved most about her life. I wanted to paint her memories, but spending time with her was more important than being in the studio. But mum encouraged me to chase my dream, create art, but art that matters. She was always our biggest supporter and encouraged us to follow our dreams; she would never hold us back. Even now, I hear her voice saying, “Love You More.”

Mum passed away in December 2024. It was a heartbreaking, challenging time. There was a moment when the hospice nurse placed a butterfly on her heart, and we all felt it. That is Mum, she is a butterfly now. The butterfly was such a strong symbol and sat well with us, as we felt she had become a butterfly, a beautiful, free, loved soul, my sister and brother, and I have held onto that symbol and will forever be reminded of the beautiful person she was.

I went home and painted her, but not a portrait, her story. Her parents had always been robins to her; now she was the butterfly. She loved the sea, so I added deep blues to the butterfly’s wings. The painting included her fingerprint and her favorite saying, “Love you more,” in 24k gold leaf.

That painting has changed everything for me. I realized I had been preparing for this moment my entire life. I feel at peace when I paint, and even more so when I give that magic back to others.

In May 2025, I left teaching to keep my promise to her. Now I understand it was more than a promise; it was always part of who I am. I create on natural wood with 24k gold leaf, making pieces for families, milestones, and memories that should last. Every commission begins with a conversation. You share your story with me, a person you love, a life you’ve lived, or a moment you never want to lose, and I turn it into something you can keep with you every day.

Nature is an important part of my work; I study patterns within it, from a ripple in the water to a flower to a tree pattern. My husband Bill builds a hidden compartment in the back of each frame. Inside, a small book holds the story before the painting begins, becoming part of the artwork itself. It’s an heirloom within an heirloom.

This work is more than just a painting. I feel humbled when someone shares their story with me. During these conversations, people often discover things they didn’t realize they carried. When they see the finished piece, I notice something change in them: a sense of recognition and permission to believe in themselves and their loved ones.

In those moments, when I see someone recognize themselves in paint and gold, I know I am exactly where I am meant to be.

Lisa Jane | Stories Made Visible · Heirloom Story Art

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
That’s an interesting question. I hadn’t really thought about it much until recently, even though it had been on my mind for some time.

The real struggle wasn’t about practical things. It was about identity.

Early on, someone looked at my work and said, “You’re not just an artist. You’re more than that, and I’m not quite sure how to describe it or where to place you.” I went home and thought about that. I realized the issue wasn’t my work, but my language. After thirty years as a graphic designer, I still saw myself as someone who helped bring other people’s visions to life. Even the name I chose, Lisa Jane Design, felt safe. It was the language I was used to and the language of a professional who uses her skills to support someone else’s name on the work.

Now, what I do is the complete opposite.

My clients aren’t just buying a service. They’re choosing me—my eye, my thirty years of understanding how shapes carry meaning, how color holds emotion, and how composition tells a story before any words are spoken. All of my graphic design experience is part of my art. It’s what makes my work unique. Most painters don’t have that background.

Once I understood that, everything changed.

This was confirmed for me when I delivered a commission, and the client looked at the painting and said, “My nephews will fight over this when I’m gone.” That’s not something people say about just any decoration. That’s what they say about an heirloom. Seeing people’s reactions when they first see their finished painting is the most heartwarming and humbling experience I’ve ever had.

So my real challenge was learning how to describe something that hadn’t really existed before. I was figuring out what I was actually creating and finding the courage to say it out loud.

What I create is that moment when someone finally feels seen.

“When I listen to someone’s story, I feel humbled. And when I present the finished painting, watching their expression in that moment, that is the most extraordinary feeling I know.”

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I create heirloom story art—large paintings, hand-painted on natural wood with real 24k gold leaf. Each piece is made for families, milestones, and memories that are meant to last for generations.

But honestly, painting is only part of what I do.

What I really specialize in is listening.

Every commission starts well before I pick up a brush. It begins with a conversation, sometimes lasting an hour or more. Someone shares their story with me, whether it’s about a person they’ve lost, a life they’ve built, or a moment they want to remember. Often, something unexpected happens: people discover things they didn’t realize they were carrying. A memory emerges, or a feeling finally has a name. They start to see their own story as something worth keeping, being proud of, and passing on.

That conversation becomes the painting. Every symbol, color, and gold line comes directly from what was shared with me. Nothing is just for decoration. Everything has a purpose.

I study patterns in nature, like the lines of trees, the flow of water, and the way things move. These patterns become the visual language I use to hold someone’s story. Nature has always kept what lasts.

What makes my work different starts before I ever touch the wood.
The first thing I give isn’t a painting. It’s a Written Story: their words, their symbols, and their meaning shaped into something they can keep. It’s a complete visual concept, brought together in a beautifully designed document. Every choice is explained, and every element comes from what they shared with me. For many, it’s the first time they’ve seen their own story written down and treated as something precious. Some have told me the document alone moved them to tears, even before the painting began.

Then comes the painting. It is hand-painted on premium hardwood, with real 24k gold leaf applied by hand. One story, one painting, made for one person.
When the painting is finished, my husband Bill builds a custom frame with a hidden compartment in the back. I hand-stitch a linen-bound book that holds the story, photos of the process, and the meaning behind every symbol. The book stays inside that compartment, inside the painting, for good.
If you turn the painting over, you will find a small door. Open it, and the book is there: an heirloom within an heirloom.

What am I most proud of?

I put everything into the paintings. But what I am most proud of are the moments: the look on someone’s face when they see their finished piece for the first time, the pause before they speak, and the quiet laugh when they notice something hidden they did not expect.
One client looked at her painting and said, “My nephews will fight over this when I’m gone.” People do not say that about decoration. They say it about something that will outlast them.

That is what I am making. And that is what I am most proud of.

Thirty years in graphic design gave me room to grow as a problem-solver, enabling me to develop creative concepts for the client’s visual brand story. The experience is not separate from my art; it is my art.

But what truly sets me apart is this:
I do more than sell a painting; I create the moment when someone finally feels recognized.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The art world is moving toward meaning. People are turning away from mass-produced decoration and reaching for things that last, things that hold something real. Heirloom thinking is coming back.

What thrills me most is where my own work is heading within that shift — art that becomes more over time. Not just art that lasts, but art that keeps giving.

I’m exploring how a painting can hold something quiet, it could be a message, a memory, a symbol that reveals itself slowly. Something that was always there, but that time brings it forward. I’m in the early stages of working out how to do this technically and truthfully, but the intention is clear.

Imagine commissioning a painting for your daughter, knowing that ten, twenty years from now, when she hangs it in her own home, something new will emerge from the surface. A word, a color, a mark that means something only she will understand.

The painting keeps giving, the story keeps unfolding, and the person who made the piece is still speaking, long after they have been gone.

That is what I want my art to become. An heirloom that earns its name across the generations, not just because it is beautiful, but because it is still in conversation with the people it belongs to.

Lisa Jane | Stories Made Visible · Heirloom Story Art

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lisajane.design/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisajane.storiesmadevisible/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/storiesmadevisiblebylisajane