We had the good fortune of connecting with lindsey francis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi lindsey, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
I have never been someone who overworks! I am a hairdresser (that may be an outdated title but I’ve never used hairstylist) and an artist. I currently work at Lucas Salon four days a week and I paint/create the other days. I like to have time and space to do both and to do nothing! Doing nothing is so vital to me.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am currently working on a project of painting my clients from the salon. It’s a real merging of my worlds. I’ve been working in a salon since 1993 and painting and drawing as long as I can remember. I see so many of the same people every few weeks at the salon and so many have become intimate relationships. (Most of my clients I have been seeing over a decade!) I hope to complete like one hundred portraits and I currently have about 12 – so we’ll see! It may be a lifelong project?

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Literally everyone I know pokes fun at me about never leaving my neighborhood! It’s strange but I have always been that way. Maybe I like my world to feel like a small town? Anyway- we would wake up and grab a snack from Cookbook, then a walk through Elysian Park. We’d lunch at Milkfarm or wax paper (sandwiches are my love language). Then a stroll around highland park including stops into my favorite stores -shorthand and Dotter. Then dinner at Bacetti – it’s delicious AND walkable from my apartment.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are a couple major events/people that hugely contributed to my creative life. I was a terrible student. Looking back I recently realized there was a guidance counselor who took me out of the regular schedule and put me in art classes instead of the regular curriculum -including language class and study-hall. Even over my lunch break I drove to the public school and took photography and printmaking! Later in my life – at a salon in New Mexico, I had a mentor, Cynthia, who hired and trained me to become a great hairdresser. Without her encouragement and lessons I would definitely not be who I am today.

Website: lindseyfrancisart.com

Instagram: lindseyfrancisart

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