The Real West Michigan

An Artist's Dilemma - From Pet Portraits to Mushroom Art: Liz Donoghue’s Whimsical Journey

• Eldon Palmer • Season 2 • Episode 1

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Have you struggled with your CREATIVE PATH?  What happens when an artist allows herself to explore multiple creative paths before finding her true focus? In this captivating conversation, illustrator, mixed media artist, and art educator Liz Donoghue takes us on her winding artistic journey as an artist—from her early love of drawing, through formal training at CCS, to building her brand, Mushabloom Studio. Learn how her work with kids, a move to Mexico, and a random toad under a mushroom helped shape her signature whimsical style. Whether you're a creative or just curious about the path to finding your “one thing,” this episode will inspire you.

For creators and art enthusiasts alike, Liz offers valuable wisdom about finding freedom through focused practice. After years of exploration, she discovered that limiting herself to one medium - mushroom art - actually expanded her creative possibilities rather than constraining them. Through her brand "MushaBloomStudio," she now combines technical skill with playful whimsy, creating unique pieces that carry authentic stories.

Do you struggle with finding your creative focus or appreciating handmade art? Follow Liz's journey on Instagram and Facebook at MushaBloomStudio and discover how concentrating on your unique passion might be the key to unlocking your artistic potential. 

FIND LIZ HERE:

https://www.instagram.com/mushabloomstudio/

🧠5 Listener Takeaways

  1. Repetition beats perfection. Like the pottery experiment from Atomic Habits, creating consistently—even imperfectly—leads to growth faster than aiming for perfection.
  2. Whimsy has power. Liz discovered her artistic "why" by reconnecting with childhood joy, playful storytelling, and a love for nature.
  3. Creativity is in the doing. Whether you're a teacher, parent, or aspiring artist, showing up and making something—even badly—is the gateway to finding your voice.
  4. You don’t need art school to be an artist. Liz affirms that hard work, online resources, and community support can be just as powerful as formal education.
  5. Discipline creates creative freedom. By narrowing her focus to mushrooms, Liz opened the door to deeper expression, branding opportunities, and meaningful storytelling.

Video Podcast available here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRealWestMichigan

THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY: THE PALMER GROUP real estate team. The Palmer Group is an energetic team within 616 REALTY led by Eldon Palmer with over 20 years of experience helping people navigate the home buying and selling process in West Michigan. To support the channel and all of our guests, contact Eldon@ThePalmer.Group, drop a COMMENT, SHARE, LIKE or SUBSCRIBE to this podcast.

You can also learn more at https://thepalmer.group/

Whether moving to Michigan or another state, we can help and would love to chat with you over a coffee or your favorite beverage!

HAVE A SUGGESTION? WANT TO BE A GUEST ON THE PODCAST? Reach out to Eldon@ThePalmer.Group or send us a DM.

WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOUR 5-STAR REVIEW

Liz Donoghue:

It's so much more cooler to say that you got it from an artist than you got it from Amazon, Just saying oh absolutely Of course, yeah, and like you can always find like some cool stuff, like at you know home goods and things like that, but like to find something that's unique, that has a story tied to it. Hello.

Eldon Palmer:

Welcome back to season two here of the podcast the Real West Michigan. Today we have Liz Donahue, illustrator, art educator, among other things. So we're here to talk a little bit about mushroom art. So mushroom art and her story. So let's just get started. Sure, so tell us about, maybe little Liz. Like, what was life like?

Liz Donoghue:

when you're little.

Eldon Palmer:

How'd you get into art?

Liz Donoghue:

Oh gosh, well, as the story goes, my mom always says I just started drawing just happy faces. Over and over again I always had crayons and paper. And I asked her one time you know like what's the first drawings that you remember me doing? And she's like well, you're just doing like just happy face. You know, doot, doot, smile, doot, doot, smile, doot, doot, smile and smile. And she said I'm like how old was? I was probably, like probably like three. So I'd say like when I was three I really started getting into art.

Liz Donoghue:

You know, just getting those crayons and paper out um, but I don't know, I started just, you know, drawing in notebooks. I remember asking my mom getting like just blank notebooks and I would draw on those um all the time. And so, like in preschool and kindergarten, and I remember in first grade just having just little notebooks of drawing like faces and animals and things like that, and how are these more like start from there, cartoonish or realistic?

Eldon Palmer:

what was kind of your?

Liz Donoghue:

that's good question is mostly just cartoons and things, so just things I make up like people, you know. You know I really like Disney, princesses and things like that, so just trying to draw, you know know, girls with like long, pretty hair and lips and makeup and and drawing uh, animals and things that I liked. Um, it wasn't until probably like middle school I really was into video games, so I tried and draw a lot of video game characters and cartoons from TV, so, uh, things like SpongeBob and Rugrats and all the 90s cartoons. Now that I think about it more, it's probably more in elementary as well, just drawing cartoons and things like that that I liked. And then we got into more drawing bands or musicians that I really like.

Eldon Palmer:

What were some of those?

Liz Donoghue:

Oh, I always liked Reliant K and yeah, reliant K. Cool, I didn't draw anybody else, but I like the Final Fantasy games and Kingdom Hearts. I would draw all the characters from that, or?

Liz Donoghue:

from anime cartoons like Full Metal, alchemist, and just drawing things from observation. So I always wanted to draw things realistically. I mostly stuck with like pencils and graphite pencil, but so I didn didn't really. I still enjoyed like just making things, like there was like a craft at some kind of event or school or church or whatever, and just being like we're gonna make this, I'm all about it, whatever it was.

Liz Donoghue:

So I always enjoy just like making things maybe that's part of your, your maiden name being craft, and maybe that uh had a little hint there there's always that joke where, when I was especially as a teacher and teaching, you know elementary kids of like saying my name is Mrs Craft, like, and they're like, oh, I'm like what they're like. That's why you became an art teacher, because your name's Mrs Craft, I'm like. Guess you could say that that's true. So yeah, I think it was just woven into my name. I just enjoyed crafts.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I've always been into crafts and wanted to make stuff. Yeah, I think that's part of brings a lot of joy in life. My girls are all. They've all really enjoyed arts and crafts at some point.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah just something to make, and sometimes I think everyone has that like spark of just like. You know, everyone has that a way to be creative or just like to make something, whether it's just writing or singing or, you know, just trying to like figure out something like in cooking or whatever, there's always some kind of creative element, trying to make it your own or just even just expressing yourself a little bit.

Eldon Palmer:

I think it's important. So for sure, yeah, I think everybody, even the analytical accountant types, engineers like there's some creativity in there.

Liz Donoghue:

Exactly it can be trying to think of. Like you know, solve a problem and you're wanting to think like a creative way, like well, we got to figure this out. And sometimes you have to involve like creative thinking and trying to figure something out. Right, I think you're getting a little off topic, so I'm sorry. Oh, you're good.

Eldon Palmer:

So let's, let's tell us a little, let's start with a little bit of overview of what you do now, without going too deep, and then we'll rewind back to like childhood and and kind of how you started taking it.

Liz Donoghue:

I'll probably reference it or, yeah, talk about a lot more. So what was your?

Eldon Palmer:

question well, actually let's just go back, let's, let's keep, keep on the trail here. Sure kind of middle school, high school, college, but you know, keep on okay sure, yeah.

Liz Donoghue:

So, like I said, I was just doing a lot of just copying. That's pretty common middle school and high school, just drawing your own, like what you see and what you know. Um, it wasn't probably until like high school, trying to figure out, of course, like what you want to do in life. What do you want to do? And I've always loved teaching and I always thought I'm going to be a teacher and, uh, but I always, like, wanted to be an artist and, um, some of my friends were expressing they want to go to college for creative studies because they're like I think it, you know, it's really cool, school seems really cool, it's in Detroit, and so I started looking into that as well. So I thought, well, maybe I'll go for the art education route and still be an artist as well and try to do both. So that's kind of where I kind of started going on the path of being an art teacher and still being an illustrator.

Liz Donoghue:

So when I chose, like my major and everything, I was like, oh, I'm going to go into illustration, though it was really hard to pick because I like to make everything I was touching before. So I really liked, you know, making things out of clay or like making things out of cardboard or just like putting something together. So it was really hard to pick. Either Should I do crafts, you know, work with clay and fibers and all those things, or should I go into illustration. So I chose illustration because it's more versatile and kind of go into a little of everything. So it kind of kind of covers a lot. So I went there in our education.

Eldon Palmer:

So for those of us on the west side of the state here might not be familiar with CCS College Creative Studies, Tell us a little bit about that sure?

Liz Donoghue:

um. So College Creative Studies is in Detroit. It's near Wayne State University, which a lot of people know about Wayne State a little bit. Um, it's a really small. Well, college Creative Studies is a really small school. It's like three buildings all in a little circle and then that's about it. And they have like one other building like a half a mile or mile away, um, and so it's. I forget how long it's been around, but, um, yeah, it's like in near midtown Detroit.

Eldon Palmer:

I just remember back in the day when I was in printing 20 some years ago, um, we, we did their catalog like it was a really impressive and it was really cool looking at some of the art yeah, that in that catalog it was used for.

Liz Donoghue:

It's just almost like a whole bunch of samples used for recruiting, I think, and for donations probably yeah, but it just looked like an awesome place to to go to school it's wild how when I first get there I was actually just talking about um alumni friend because we just met up how we, just when you first get into like art school and you kind of put in this perspective it's like you were like the best at your school, maybe the best artist, the best in your class and then now you're in a pool of all the best that were the best in their schools and you're like, oh my gosh, everyone is so talented and it's intimidating, but it's a lot of fun. You really learn a lot from other people and what everyone else is into and, yeah, it's really cool.

Eldon Palmer:

It's kind of the iron sharpens iron, you know, you get better um, the higher the competition yeah, it's not even competition necessarily you just learn and tips and tricks from others exactly.

Liz Donoghue:

and you kind of humble yourself a little bit and say, like you know, we can learn from each other, even if maybe we don't have the same style or the same direction or even the same major, because everyone kind of helps each other like, hey, I heard about this, you'd be really awesome at it. Or like I'm going to this gallery or I'm going to this art opening or I'm going to this workshop, you should go, because, like you said, helping each other out kind of thing. And even after being out of school, I feel everyone contacts other people just to ask questions like, hey, what are you doing in your career? What are you doing with your, you know, in your career, what are you doing? How did you get there? And everyone's not afraid to be like, oh, I did this, I, this is how I did that.

Eldon Palmer:

um and same with uh professors there even willing to help out or like talk to you or yeah, so you know we'll pause here for a little bit with, uh, somebody, a new artist thinking about going to college or not going to college, trying to figure out what they want to do. You know, what kind of advice would you give to somebody, you know, maybe just graduating high school that's thinking about maybe going to art school? What would you recommend?

Liz Donoghue:

That's a good question. I don't think it's a necessity to go to college for art.

Liz Donoghue:

I've seen a lot of people be very successful by not going to art school at all, because you could still especially now in the age of the internet and other artists and access to so many resources that anyone can really make art and study it without actually going to a university. So I would say that if, down the road now, it's like on the other side of the coin, though you have access to going to like a university and networking with so many different other artists and finding, may say, a professor it's a mentor to kind of help you move into a direction so there's definitely benefits for going to like an art school and studying, or even just going to college to study art, because you have those ways or resources right there in front of you. So I would say it's not necessarily something you need to do because there's there's I don't know like, like I found a lot more resource and help from other other places yeah like online and like connecting with other artists and help, and just.

Liz Donoghue:

It's more so, I feel, if you're just putting in the work to just to grow as an artist like I'm like say you're being like a draw, like a um, a painter, and it's like you're painting every day.

Liz Donoghue:

You're finding other ways to to find inspiration and sharpen your skills and reading books and and watching the videos and copying things and just trying to like sharpen the skills as being a painter. And then you can start reaching out to other painters and finding out like, oh, how do you get into, um, whatever it is gallery work or books or whatever and then I think it's just you know putting the hard work however you want to do it, and if you feel like going to school is going to be like the next step, that's totally. I hope that I'm kind of like.

Liz Donoghue:

I feel like I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, exactly I think that's why I'm struggling, because it's like it's almost like whatever you want to do, because I feel like you can still be a successful artist whether or not you go answer is if you're putting the hard work and actually like growing, because it's not going to fall in your lap. And that's the thing, too of being art. There's that argument like anyone can make art, I'm just going to draw something and you know, throw it out there and you know it seems easy. I can just like throw something in there and just draw something and be. You know I can sell that and it's not necessarily as easy as I think a lot of people think that art is. So it's like you have to actually sit down and put down the hours of like I'm going to grow as an artist and put in the time to get better and then grow from there.

Eldon Palmer:

So I think any, any profession, occupation, you have to continue to always learn. Also, now there's just so much education free on YouTube or other other outlets. There's paid art, you know, you can do these little subscriptions on classes, on individual pretty much anything you want you can find.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah, like all those workshops like Skillshare and like Patron, and exactly my point. There's a lot of different ways. Some people don't have the chance to go to university and it's like, well, now I can't be successful. It's like that disappointments, like I'm not going to be able to be whatever career, like opportunities are not gonna come my way. But they're like you said, there's so many resources and ways that people can find so that they actually can do those things. So yeah.

Eldon Palmer:

I think it's cool so there was something I had, oh, atomic habit. So this is something you were talking. You were going on about putting in the work and I think it was in atomic habits they talked about. They referenced some study where students had to. One group of students had a whole semester to work on pottery and they had one group that had to design the best piece of pottery they could at the end of the semester and then the other group they had they had to make as many pieces of pottery every day they had to make a new piece and then by the end of semester they had a competition and it wasn't even close to people that made the pottery every day did far better than those trying to design and make the perfect piece of pottery. So I think the lesson there is just you know, do, do, do far better than think about it and read about it, and you know.

Liz Donoghue:

It's funny that you say that too, because I feel like some of the best stuff is the stuff I'm just playing around with. I'm not like going in there like a purpose, like, oh, I have this all planned out, I'm going to make this. Where I'm making something, say, for example, for students, I'm like, oh, I kind of like this, I'm just going to keep going with it and just play around. There's like no pressure and I feel it's like that pressure of like trying to make something like a strong piece where the pressure's to stop, like, oh, I'm just playing around in the art studio, I'm just putting this together and just messing around. Usually it comes out a lot better.

Eldon Palmer:

So much more fun and more. I think that natural creativity just comes out Once your brain. I think we put blocks up when we're trying to do something in particular.

Liz Donoghue:

Right.

Eldon Palmer:

And then we just kind of leave all the walls down.

Liz Donoghue:

Right and kind of going back to like everything you were saying. Just like with anything is we just go in there and show up and just I'm just going to make something. It might not turn out very well. Or I'm like I'm just going to do this project. It might not turn out, but it's like, like you said, that repetition of just showing up and just trying over and over and over again and suddenly things start to kind of click because you've done it already a hundred times or whatever yeah, x amount, but so, after art school, what was next for you?

Liz Donoghue:

oh gosh, so trying to think back it's kind of hard. I think it's my. It's like dang. I haven't really thought about this in a while. Um, so I feel like in art school, like I don't know, I feel like I've always didn't really know exactly. I always, always, thought I'm going to be an art teacher, you know.

Liz Donoghue:

So I feel like so many people around me were working hard towards, like I'm going to be a character designer for video games or I'm going to be going into gallery work or I'm going to be doing editorial work or whatever, and I'm like I'm just trying to get through these classes and make this like still life look really good because I'm going to be an art teacher these classes and make this like still life look really good because I'm going to be an art teacher. And so it wasn't until probably like my last couple years of being at CCS that I chose I had to choose like a focus. So I focused in on watercolor and so I tried to get better at that and it was uh, my, my professors were that I worked with were mostly acrylic painters or oil painters, so you know it would help me with watercolor and things like that. But I was I feel like I was mostly on my own, just kind of figuring out, kind of we're talking about just experimenting and trying to uh figure out how to use watercolor. Um, so when I got out of college, I was considered as a watercolor uh, painter and art teacher. So I was.

Liz Donoghue:

I was just a substitute art teacher for a while. I mostly just tried to get art subbing jobs, but I subbed everywhere. So I was trying to work towards being an art teacher. I remember like my professors, like on our exit interview, was like you have to present all your artwork, that you like your strongest pieces.

Liz Donoghue:

And then, once I was all done with my spiel, they kind of looked at me and it's like, and I, I'm gonna be an art like, what do you plan to do after college? I'm like, well, I'm gonna be an art teacher. You're like, ah, you can always do that, like you're really strong in your illustration and you should. You know, I thought you can kind of like in the back of my head, like, oh, I want to be an artist and an art teacher. Yeah, so after college, I worked towards just getting my certificate, which I took a long time because I struggled with, like reading and math and writing. Those were like the things you had to do for your test. So I was just really focusing on those things, that's the teaching certificate.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah. So once I got my teaching certificate, after like 10 attempts I finally got it. So I tried to finally land an art teacher job, but I was still doing like painting here and there my own things.

Eldon Palmer:

Yep Now where was that? Was that in Michigan? Here still?

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah, I was still in Michigan, so at that point I was teaching, but I still was making my own like watercolor things, just still kind of copying things and sketching and and whatnot. So I got into more, uh, portrait. I found myself kind of I I'm not a specific time when I'm like I'm gonna do portraits but I was like, oh, I'm gonna just draw some like dogs and people. And then somebody said, oh, can you draw like my house or can you draw my dog? So then I started kind of thinking of going that way. So for a while there I was just doing portraits, mostly pets and houses.

Eldon Palmer:

Did any of that work? Were you selling any of this? Were you?

Liz Donoghue:

It wasn't enough to, let's say, make a living off of it. I think it's the biggest like struggle, right, it's like trying to find like, as far as like an art is like trying to make art and making a living off it it's always been.

Liz Donoghue:

It's always like a journey and trying to get there, and so I was doing a lot of house uh portraits for just anybody. It was mostly just um, word of mouth or a friend of a friend, yeah. So it started off as like for friends and then, oh, I heard they see like the house on the person's like mantle and they're oh, who did that? So they're like, oh, I'm friends with so-and-so. So I was like just word of mouth of um wanting to get a portrait done, same with like pets, and uh, so I was doing that for a while but the problem was like I enjoyed doing it but I just didn't feel like I was being creative in a way. It's like it almost like I'm just doing this because I can do it, yeah, and you would say, oh, you're so talented. It's like, yes, this always, like, always struggles with me. It's like, oh, you're so talented.

Liz Donoghue:

I say, yes, I could have a talent to like paint, but I don't feel I'm creative. Yeah, and I remember watching I think it was Woman on like the newest Little Woman. I think she was like struggling with that. One of the girls was like in pairs and she was looking at over like her, her classmates, like still life, and hers looked really good. And she looked at her, her classmates, and it was like just different colors and just more creative. And she's like realizes like yes, I'm talented but I'm not creative, like I'm like that's how I feel sometimes, like sure, sort of I can paint well and I can draw well, but I just feel like I wasn't being, I couldn't find that way to be creative and make it my own, because I'm just merely kind of going back to like when you're like an adolescent, you're just copying things, and so I was really good at just copying what I can see.

Eldon Palmer:

I think a lot of I'm. I mean, I've struggled with that and my creative aspects. It's just frustrating just taking a photo without being, you know, as a photographer, having to just take a photo of somebody versus being able to be creative with it. It's just a whole different level of whether it's seeing your photos or whatever. Hey, we want to hear and hear and hear. Yeah, well, especially for athletes, I'd much rather do. Hey, you dive in in front of the the net or taking a shot, or do some cool lighting or something.

Eldon Palmer:

Find ways to be creative, yeah because otherwise it sort of gets boring after a while. You kind of you kind of get there and understand lighting and you know some, some of the other aspects first.

Liz Donoghue:

But right, yeah, I can relate, yeah it's like you can make it all look nice. Okay, we have the lighting over here, we have you sitting in front of this background. It's like, okay, I can take a nice picture Like these look really nice. And then, yeah, kind of same thing, Like I'm painting, I'm like this looks really good. And then it's like, so I try to get more creative with it.

Liz Donoghue:

I thought well, and so I was like, how I was talking about before, like it was still kind of a journey, even outside of school, and that's why I really I learned, I still learned a lot at CCS, like I loved being there. So I don't want to make it sound like it was like a waste of time, because it definitely wasn't. But I found other ways to find like, oh, I'm going to find other artists or ways to kind of show like how can we paint with watercolor a little bit more freely or loosely or more, like I said, get more creative. And so it was really kind of scary when you start something new, because you're just you're just trapped or like used to just doing the same things. So I tried to I'm trying to stay in the right path.

Liz Donoghue:

What I'm trying to say. I was trying to find a way to be creative with portraits and houses and pets, because I like we're talking about um. It just didn't seem like like at least, I was boring and just didn't feel like I was being creative. So I tried to find other ways to try and bring some creativity into that. So that's what I was mentioning. It was kind of scary because this is what I was used to. So I feel like I was going to mess it up and I think it's like the biggest struggle even now is like I'm afraid I'm going to mess up the paper or waste the paint, and you can't have that fear when you're trying to grow as an artist. It's like, okay, I'm just going to do it. So I just started trying to find ways. For example, I was trying to start the whole page with yellow and I'm like this doesn't seem it's going to work. But then it really started to work and I was feeling like I was getting more creative with it.

Liz Donoghue:

But then it was the same kind of like feeling of like I just don't think I want to paint pets anymore. I have to not be afraid to just try something new. But then after a while I was like I don't know if I want to do this. But then it's like the dilemma, like okay, well, now, what am I gonna do? Because that's kind of scary as well. It's like I was doing portraits and pets. I'm like I don't know if this is what I want to do. Um, and at this point in um, I had my first son and I kind of took a step back from teaching, cause I'm like, you know, I'm not sure if I want to still teach or I want to still um, um, what was I going to say? Yeah, I didn't know if I was still going to teach, or I just want to be a mom, or, you know, drop it all together.

Eldon Palmer:

So I kind of took that break too to kind of just figure out what I wanted to do. So that's when I start. Still was doing portraits, but then I was like, okay, now I don't know if I want to do this, so I decided to switch it up again. So a couple things. Where were you at here?

Liz Donoghue:

I'd like to at some point timeline. Yeah, I know you. Yeah, that's okay. No.

Eldon Palmer:

I know you you were in Mexico for a little bit and I'd like to chat a little bit about your art prize experience and, um, yeah, we can just get into that whenever and that's, I think the problem is.

Liz Donoghue:

Where I keep jumping ahead is because I feel like I've done so many things, and that's the hard part kind of goes back to what I was saying, as when you said, like, what is like with little liz? It's like, well, I like to do everything, I want to do all the things, and I hate I definitely have what I forget, what they abbreviate it, but fear of missing out sure yeah all the time.

Liz Donoghue:

So I'm like, well, I gotta do that, I want to do that and as soon as something else like, oh, I'll drop that thing and be like I want to do this. So when I was doing portraits and things at this point I was living in in Canton I wanted to like drop it. I was living in Canton, michigan, for like a short time because we were in between of like, where we want to live as a family. So, going back to your question, I was we were in Mexico for about a year and a half because my husband, ben Ben's job was, you know, pushed him over to Mexico for a little bit. So when I was there, I was volunteering with an organization that's no longer there, called, I believe it was, restore and it was like an after-school program for the community, and so I went there to kind of volunteer teaching art classes, not even art classes, but just like an art pop-up workshop, like hey, we're all going to make, learn how to make this puppet together, so with all the other kids, and they're all a range of different kids.

Liz Donoghue:

So the program was to help kids, like with their homework or after school and help the families that maybe have endangered. I feel like it's been so long, so I hope that I'm saying this correctly. Yeah, but they would help the families too to prevent their kids from being placed into like the orphanage system. So they would work with the parents to either find like jobs or work with them to help with like necessities that they might need for their kids. So they would offer swim lessons and music lessons and also help with their relationship with Jesus. And also they asked me to share and help with doing some art and things like that. Oh, and also come with sports. So a lot of extra classes of support in them in their school endeavors as well.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah so anyway.

Liz Donoghue:

So I was helping with them in Mexico and at the same time I wasn't teaching or anything. So I was really focusing on again like what I want to do. So I was still that. This is so funny. I just keep like I've been jumping around. It's so funny oh, you're fine back.

Liz Donoghue:

So I was jumping around like all the time like what I want to make. So I was focusing on maybe getting into enamel pins and getting more into design work. So I was designing like enamel pins and trying to design like, like brands, but I felt like I was just so jumping around and I always had that back in my mind like I'm just an imposter. That's why I don't know what I'm doing, because like I'm just doing everything and so I was focusing on like enamel pins and just doing random things.

Liz Donoghue:

So I at one point too, I was trying to make like a fake brewery and it sounds like so random because my husband Ben was was kind of into making beers back in the day and so I'll make like a fake brewery and it sounds like so random because my husband, ben was, was kind of into making beers back in the day and so I'll make like a fake like beer brand. So I started making like labels and things like that for this, like fake uh brewery. That I was like imagining and things. So just finding ways to be creative while I was in Mexico was basically what I was kind of like doing at that time.

Eldon Palmer:

Point in time is just making random things did the culture or volunteering with the kids or working with the kids did any of that like impact either your art or you're just philosophy on life at all?

Liz Donoghue:

that is a very good question. I've always admired like children's art. That's always been something that I loved, and picture books is something that I've been a big collector of as well, because I just love like the whimsy of it and the playfulness of children's art and and artwork that's towards children or targeted towards children. So I feel like it's always had some kind of influence because I liked that those kinds of factors. So I always try to put it in my art a little bit. So if I'm baking kind of like what you're saying, like when I wasn't having like a plan, and I'm just like drawing or sketching something, it always fell to like the whimsical kind of imaginative kind of world, so animals like in clothing or like silly scenarios of just like of scenes of just animals or pictures or nature and things. So anytime it wasn't like a set plan, it's kind of funny you're mentioning something like realizing this kind of in it yeah same time of, just like it always was, just this very playful like creatures in a way.

Eldon Palmer:

So yeah, some of that whimsical you know, children's type art was really some of the stuff I like the most. You know, I saw some of your recent recent mushroom and frogs and toad type stuff, and then back in ArtPrize you had these farm animals. That were really cool. I thought you could do a whole lot with them. Yes, it was just really fun.

Liz Donoghue:

That's exactly what I thought when I was explaining that. So I'm glad you brought that up, because I made those back in college because I wanted to get more into to art prize. So, long story short, those, those animals you're talking about, was kind of just a random story. I asked somebody to just give me some just random animals and ask if they could be friends and I started just kind of imagining like, well, maybe it's because, you know, one was just very um, I can't think of the right word, but he, he was very like, thinks he's all that because he can spin plates.

Liz Donoghue:

And the other animals were just. He thought they're just jealous. So he leaves to go to the circus and realizes that all the other animals there are just like him and treating him the same way. I think they're all great and talented and you know, he's not that great. So he goes back to his friends realizing like oh, I've just been treated the same way, like I just treated my friends. So when he comes back he decides to teach him how to spin plates.

Liz Donoghue:

So that's what the illustrations are all about and that's kind of when you realize I really like making stories and just yeah, or based on either experiences or just memories. So some of my other illustrations at that time when I was this is probably my end years in college were a lot about memories. So when I worked at uh, I was a camp counselor at center lake bible camp and then I was also with my friends at church doing like a bluegrass kind of fundraiser, uh for our, our mission trips. That I made uh illustrations for those things, but like an animal, whimsical kind of form. So like my camp counselor days, a lot of the animals were, you know, like little campers, like all these little animals and things are, like you know, swimming at the lake. And then the bluegrass group kind of fundraiser thing was all these barnyard animals with instruments and having like a party. So yeah, now that's kind of what I'm doing, going back to those things. Yeah, that of what I'm doing, going back to those things.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, that's what I'm doing, kind of I love that stuff. Personally, I think that has a story in their story with it and it sounds like, it's like in your soul a little bit, you know whatever whatever that looks like right.

Liz Donoghue:

It's kind of like goes back to like what your whys are as an artist, like why you want to create why you want to make things, and for me it's always. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Liz Donoghue:

I like thinking about like or like seeing stuff from like my childhood, or like things from the past, and like old-fashioned things and just like memories yeah, I feel like a lot of people connect with things that remind them of something or you know that, where they remember when they were younger or something that they recently experienced, and so I like to try and tie those things a lot in my illustrations. I've come to realize, and so that's kind of what I'm doing now.

Eldon Palmer:

I think that's the important part. You know, story and everything really plays such a role and if you can see a story or if people can like pull their story out of it or connects, because a lot of things we experience, even that you're talking about whether it's through childhood or adults, we kind of go through some of that stuff, kind of go back to your same too is if the children's are ever influenced my art or influenced me, it kind of goes the same thing.

Liz Donoghue:

It's like they're so imaginative and easily to come up with a story or scenario or copying, even even if they copy something they really love, you know, like their cartoons and shows. Sometimes it sparks the creativity of how they draw things and it's it breaks my heart when it's like oh, this looks so bad. I'm like I just wish I could tell you how much I wish I could be that loose and that expressive, because you lose it sometimes, I think because you're just trying so hard to be realistic. I'm gonna draw this like apple realistically, where a child's like they just draw like. They're like I did the best I could.

Liz Donoghue:

They want to draw realistically, but I want to go back to that, like that expressive, loose kind of feel, and that's kind of where I'm trying to go as well. But I always find myself still just trying to be like super realistic. When I'm trying to get that whimsical playfulness that, um, young children have and so kind of like when I'm going back to those things that I made for our prize is when I really wanted to be get more into children's book illustration because I liked the story and I liked the whimsy and I big collector of children's books, I just wanted to be like one of them. So I started kind of going that direction and so I started with self-publishing children's books with self-published authors.

Liz Donoghue:

So what kind of happened was a friend of a friend sent my information to somebody, said, hey, they're looking for you know. Someone asked me if you do children's book illustration, like, would you do that? So then I thought you know, that's what I want to do. So I started going that direction at that point. So this is when I was still living in Detroit, so I was out of anyway, moved back from Mexico, living in Detroit, and I got more into children's book illustration at that point for those of you listening, it was a teacher, though at that point okay we'll try to throw up some of this as we've been talking.

Eldon Palmer:

you know we want to add some of this artwork um on screen, so those of you watching on YouTube can probably find a lot of this. We'll try to throw this in every now and then so people kind of see what we're talking about.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah, definitely, kind of going back to it I'm a little bit wrong on the timeline. So in Mexico, that's when I first made the first children's book I made. Funny enough, it's so hard to like think about like where all these things fall, because I just did so many random things. Yeah, so I made technically the book in Mexico which is kind of funny to think about, but that was the science science with Scarlett what color will it be? By Gary Abood Jr. And so at that point, when I got back, that's when I started kind of getting to that that route a little bit while still teaching art.

Eldon Palmer:

Awesome. Well, I think it's interesting. I mean, so many things you've done makes it for a much more interesting life, like I think. Like it might not be the most financially rewarding at this point, but you know, you're also building up so many different skill sets and such a broad view of things. To me it's super interesting All the different skill sets and such a broad view of things. Right To me it's super interesting all the different stuff you do.

Liz Donoghue:

I'm so thankful for, like, the support I've had.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah.

Liz Donoghue:

Like with Ben and my family and friends. It's like to be able to do that and it's like that guilt's like man, I feel like I'm not contributing. So, even so, I was like I got to stay with teaching, so some way I'm not just like saying I feel like it's always that stage. I'm just staying home and just like coloring things. It's like no, I'm trying so hard here. I'm really trying really hard to try and make something, um, that's like sustainable, but um, yeah, it's hard to do. That's kind of like getting to like what's going on right now is like trying to do all the things.

Eldon Palmer:

It's been really hard yeah, talk about that a little bit. The struggle of of.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah, so like I'm teaching art, I teach K through seventh grade art right now and, um, I have two children now and I'm married and I live in Holland, michigan now. So I got out of Detroit and kind of doing something totally different and going back to what I said, it's like I want to do all the things and try and make it work, um, have a life. So it's kind of hard. So I have to kind of figure out and pick and choose, like what do I have to focus on right now? So sometimes being an artist is on the back burner of things. But kind of going back to that, that's deep down inside, I feel like a lot of artists like you want to make something you want to create you want to build something up.

Eldon Palmer:

And so that's where I'm kind of like the struggle it. What do you do to get?

Liz Donoghue:

away and do some art. How do I do to do that? Well, that's why I really like being an art teacher in a ways, because kind of like we were mentioning before, is just like putting all putting the playfulness into um teaching, so, as I'm making like an example for the students, like, oh, I kind of like this and that's kind of like my creative outlet. When I can't create or sit down like, say, go to the studio or go at home and sit at my kitchen table and make something I want to make, I kind of get that um release in a way. When teaching, like art with children, yeah, so I start getting into like making the examples or sometimes, if I'm lucky enough to be able to sit alongside them and make art with them and do the things that they're doing, so kind of get my creative fill. And that way, when I can't sit down and be like I'm going to make the things I'm hoping to make, I think there's a couple of things.

Eldon Palmer:

You know I just turned 50, a friend of mine. We're kind of business, entrepreneurship, creative, a little bit of everything too. We feel like we're good at a lot of things but not great at one thing. But also, you know, somebody else. It reminds me you don't have to be. I mean, being great at one thing isn't necessarily the best. We don't need everybody to do that either. There's a lot of value in teaching little kids art, spending time with them, maybe that one-on-one time that mom and dad are both working. They don't get this creative outlet, they don't get this little bit of inspiration, storytelling, and I think we undervalue a lot of the little things we do day to day, whether it's smiling at somebody walking around or just, you know, buying somebody coffee, all this little stuff that we give into the world. I think we undervalue that too much sometimes. So you know, you can't be too hard on ourselves.

Liz Donoghue:

Right, absolutely. I know it's hard not to be hard on yourself. Yeah, you said a lot there that I wanted to touch on. Yeah, one of the things I can't remember all of it now but one of the things was trying not to like you don't have to be great at one thing, and is try not to like you don't have to be great at one thing. And then sometimes, that is true, you can kind of like jump around, but then sometimes it's like okay, you've got to choose the one thing and stick with it and get really good at it, and that's kind of what I had to figure out at this point.

Eldon Palmer:

And that's where.

Liz Donoghue:

I'm at currently in this timeline. So I started kind of listening to an artist named Josie Lewis Okay, and she does a lot of rainbow painting, abstract kind of art, very colorful and fun and started kind of taking some of her advice a little bit here. I would save like videos here on Instagram here and there. She's awesome, I really like her. And that's the thing too. I'm trying not to, I'm trying not to stay.

Liz Donoghue:

I gotta stay on this, stay on course of what you thought here, but kind of going back to what you were saying, I try to follow a lot of different artists, even ones I'm like I would never, probably make that or it's not exactly my cup of tea, but I really admire their way of doing things or their style or advice. So, anyway, she started kind of saying, like you have to choose the one thing. I know it's really hard to choose one thing, but that's how you start kind of getting attention or following. It's like hey, you're that mushroom person or you're that photographer or you're that one person that does that. So she's known for doing the rainbow art stuff, and so I said, ok, I'm going to just pick something here. As I was at this crosswalk I'm not doing portraits anymore and that was the hard part I was like turning people down, said, oh, you were so good at it. I really liked it. I said, I know, but just like my heart and soul is not in it the same with, like, children's books.

Liz Donoghue:

I'm like I love doing it, but it's like I kind of want to do my own thing. So I was like, well, what is that one thing? So I just kind of just chose something I was like currently starting getting interested in, which is mushrooms and fungi.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, which seems so kind of random. Again, it is very unique, you know.

Liz Donoghue:

It's like, yeah, it's like, here I go again, just choose the most random thing again and like, but no, but I'm going to stick with it this time, like Josie Lewis was saying. You know, like, just sticking with it. So I chose one thing and I learned a lot from Michigan Mushroom Hunters, which is run by Andrew. I'm going to say his name, last name, wrong, so I'm sorry, I'm going to say your last name wrong, andrew. I think it's Fletcher. I think I want to say Fletcher. Anyways, andrew taught me a lot about fungi and specifically one day just said this is like back when I lived in Detroit, just gave me a random artist conch mushroom. He's like do you want this artist conch mushroom? I think it'd be really cool to you would like make something on it, since you're a really good artist at drawing and I can see you making something on this really cool.

Eldon Palmer:

And you mentioned ArtPrize.

Liz Donoghue:

Like we, you know, I would love to like do something together for ArtPrize and I can help you like find you know these mushrooms and we can work together maybe on a project. So that's kind of what was always in the back of my mind that I really liked like illustrating on a mushroom. So I chose that because I'm like I like that.

Liz Donoghue:

So, I started, I already had some artist conch mushrooms already, so I started going in that direction. So I focused on that for like a month, kind of like we're talking about just repetition and trying to get good at this one thing, and I found a lot of like I just have. I feel like I'm sometimes like a small breakthrough. I feel like I'm not there at the breakthrough yet, but a small break like oh my gosh, I think this is working and I think this is maybe the right direction I need to go and kind of going like I feel like I could be creative in this now and so I felt really excited. I'm like this is it?

Liz Donoghue:

This is finally the thing, yeah, but I still like sometimes I still like ideas to do other things too, and I can talk about that later.

Eldon Palmer:

I think one thing you know again, I listened to a lot of other podcasts and Jocko Willink, I think, talking about discipline, and it's probably brought up by somebody else. So discipline is freedom and limitations can be free. So by sticking to the one thing, it kind of removes all the clutter of the distraction and you can kind of focus within that and be much more free, even though it's one thing.

Liz Donoghue:

Yes, it's like finding ways, exactly Finding ways to find freedom and just doing the one thing. So, and I have been kind of feeling, and sometimes I feel like I'm finding little cheats along the way, because what I'm trying to do now is build a brand, yeah, and since I like to do a little bit of everything, but I'm trying to put it in a focus for X amount of time now, so I've've been focusing on fungi for like a few months and I'm like I'm going to try printmaking now but still having a unifying theme.

Liz Donoghue:

So, going back to what I was saying, like the whimsical, playful and nature kind of subject is where I'm kind of focusing on Cause I think I've always felt that way, cause I really enjoy being around nature and being immersed in, like children's books. So I'm trying to combine and keeping that focus through this brand that I'm trying to build.

Eldon Palmer:

And I think it's great like focusing aspect, because, yeah, you can do, do illustrations, you can do like I don't know what you call it 3d or active mushroom work it goes back full circle.

Liz Donoghue:

Why I got into illustration at college creative studies. Cause I chose illustrations as a major Cause. Because because you can do all the things like I can you say, like draw an apple and put that on clay, or draw an apple and put it on a mushroom, draw an apple and paint it on cards and make prints and do this and that, and so I feel like illustration is kind of like a foundation to kind of go into other avenues in a way.

Eldon Palmer:

So yeah, yeah. So I don't know what a, what a, what do you call it? Artist conk, mushroom conk artist conk c-o-n.

Liz Donoghue:

I don't even know what that is, but I figured it out.

Liz Donoghue:

Tell people what that is for those listening or watching sure, I have one right here on the table and I feel it'd be better to explain it if I hold it up and if yeah, if you're listening to this, you'll have to go on youtube and find it. But this is what it looks like right here, and it kind of looks like this one's kind of really mushy looking one, um, but I also have another one here, held up by this lovely plant here, um, well, this one's not any better, so I'm gonna put that one back.

Eldon Palmer:

You're gonna go back right there, stay oh perfect, yeah, we can look at that a little closer in a minute.

Liz Donoghue:

Hold on, stay there. Okay, be a good mushroom. There we go. So this one's a little better. So like an artist conch. You probably see, when I ask people, have you heard of an artist conch? Or some people say a shelf mushroom, they say no, yes, thumper or shelf mushroom. But then when I'm like, okay, that's most likely one of these. And so an artist conch mushroom is a shelf kind of mushroom that grows out like this my hands, like the log or the wood or the stump, grows out like this.

Eldon Palmer:

And then what's really cool about the mushroom is hey guys, thanks for watching the podcast today or listening online. We just want to say thank you to the Palmer Group. Our sponsor today, that's myself, elizabeth Joni, and the rest of the crew at 616 Realty who help us, help you, whether you're looking to buy, sell, build or have any other real estate problem. We'd love to help. We are the real estate problem solvers here in West Michigan and if we can't help you, then we'll connect you with somebody who can. Again for more information, the Palmergroup, or reach out to us in the comments here. Thanks, enjoy the show.

Liz Donoghue:

You'll notice that there's like rings on the mushroom itself. I don't know if you can kind of see that here. I can hold it up a little higher, but there's rings on the mushroom and each of these rings, just like rings of a tree, show its age. The rings of the artist conch shows the number of rainfalls that have happened really and the.

Liz Donoghue:

The width of that ring shows how long it's been raining and if I turn on its side and see how it's kind of lumpy, because each of those rings, however high the ring is, shows how heavy that rainfall was interesting.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, I had no idea. Michigan're from.

Liz Donoghue:

Michigan Mushroom Hunters and I thought like that's crazy. So it's kind of like its own, like weatherman in a way. Yeah, it kind of shows a little bit about its life.

Liz Donoghue:

It's got a story there, yeah, Exactly Like kind of like the life of the mushroom, how long he's been kind of sitting there. From my, from what I'm still learning about fungi, but sure you know they they get all that moisture from the rain and then they start growing and taking on those nutrients so he just starts to expand. These can get really big. Um, there can be really really small ones. I've made ones that are like really little. They can sit like on a windowsill. Probably the biggest one I have is like dinner plate size.

Eldon Palmer:

but there's ones that can get as big as people can sit like on the shelf of the mushroom apparently so crazy yeah, fungi just keep growing until they break off, or something eats it, or yeah, so like when you, when it's harvested from the tree to be used for art. Is it soft? Is it hard? What's the texture of that?

Liz Donoghue:

good question. So this is what it looks like on the top and then on the back it's it's a little more smooth and usually it's white, um, but sometimes, you know, gets discolored because of rain or other things that get to it. Um, so this one's a little darker um. So when it's first cut, it's very porous, um, so there's like all these little pores and you can actually press your finger into it and it actually starts to bruise, it actually can hold your fingerprint like exactly um, and it stays there, um, so it's really porous.

Liz Donoghue:

Some artists that choose to work with this material actually use carving tools to carve into it, which I've tried. I use just handmade tools with like a paper clip and other things and just poked at it and bruised it first before I started doing the next step. So it's that porous and kind of like damp-like, and then after a couple days it turns it all completely dries out, so all the moisture leaves it and it turns to like this, like hard wood-like state, so it almost feels like wood. It's hard to believe that this is actually a mushroom. Sometimes this is not a good example, but sometimes when you cut it clean off the wood, you can actually see like some of the fungi layers that seem kind of familiar to a mushroom.

Eldon Palmer:

Okay.

Liz Donoghue:

So a lot of people don't believe this is actually a fungi. So, yeah, it turns like this wood-like state, and what a lot of artists do with this now is using a pyrographic pen, which is like a wood burning tool. So I use a wood burning tool to burn into it, and that's what this mushroom is done so sometimes, if I have an idea, the same day, I cut it.

Liz Donoghue:

Um, I'll start maybe like bruising it a little bit sometimes, but most likely I'm. I just try not to get so precious with these because I'm like, because, um, I just want to go for it sometimes. But yeah, I'm like, because I just want to go for it sometimes.

Liz Donoghue:

But, yeah, I'm like I got to wait because the shape you know I want to. Sometimes I'll play with the shape. Fun fact, this one was supposed to be a squirrel but then I forgot because trying to find that time because I thought it looked like a squirrel with the head and the tail.

Eldon Palmer:

Oh yeah, I can see that for sure.

Liz Donoghue:

But anyways, I just made this one yesterday, okay, wow. So yeah, I use a wood burning tool to get these dark, contrasting tones, but there's some bruising in there just from when I harvest it, or sometimes I either I kick them down or I wiggle them around until they break off. That's another story, anyways, but talking about the story about mushrooms, so I'll touch back on that later, but anyway. So once it's completely dry it turns to this wood like state. I can burn into it and you can even still kind of carve into it. So some of this I can.

Eldon Palmer:

I can hold it up yeah, go ahead and throw as close as I can here, but if you, look at the log at the bottom right there.

Liz Donoghue:

it does have some carved features into it, because I can burn right into that surface and I've noticed some artists that can really get in there and really carve into it, which I haven't tried that too much yet. I've made one that I wish I brought it, but I have one that's really big that has pumpkins and a cat on it.

Eldon Palmer:

Okay.

Liz Donoghue:

I've experimented a little bit, trying to carve into the grooves of the pumpkin stem and try to give some kind of 3D factor to it. Going back to what you're saying, I'm just starting out, but if I'm trying to focus on one, thing yeah now I can actually try and put the time. It's like well, what more can I do with this mushroom? Can I carve into it? Can I paint on it? Someone actually, um, talked to me about like, maybe making a print with it, so making a stamp with it like can I carve into this mushroom and actually make a print like a stamp.

Liz Donoghue:

So there's a lot of experimentation there, which I really like, and that's what makes it kind of exciting. It's like, okay, I can always find more mushrooms, I just got to put in the time and not be so scared to just ruin a couple of mushrooms. It's not a big deal, right? So I think I saw a quote a lot floating online. It's like you know, it's only wasted paint if it sits in the tube.

Liz Donoghue:

So, it's okay to waste paint because you're learning and growing, right, kind of like. We're going back to like do you have to go, you know, to school, to to study? It's like no, you just got to experiment and try and and explore and grow as an artist if you're trying to do that in your life, so I think that goes for so many things right.

Liz Donoghue:

Well, kind of going back to before I forget, because it's kind of interesting when I'm harvesting these mushrooms I used to kick them down or just like wiggle, especially if they're really big, and sometimes I don't always have, like a hatchet, a lot of these things might need a hatchet to get a clean cut, because it is a fun guy Like a lot of these pieces on the mushroom can break.

Liz Donoghue:

So one time, kind of when I was hunting around, I just go down the local woods or trails that are nearby and I'll just kind of peek out and see if there's anything sticking out of some logs. I'm like, ooh, let's go check it out. So one day I was going to the wood on the trees and I saw one on the ground and I said, ooh, look at that one. And then I saw a big old toad sitting under it eating all these insects because the insects were on the mushroom and eating whatever else that insects eat. And the frog with the not frog, a toad was just having a meal, like just eating them.

Liz Donoghue:

Actually I have a video of him like eating like the crickets and other. Like that's awesome. So I'm so glad because I usually take pictures of like the, the mushrooms I find, or like a little video. So that's when I saw him I was like, oh, no way. So I took a little video of him and I was like I'm so glad I didn't just kick down the conch because I would have like probably hurt him or squish him. So from that point on I said I'm always going to check now see if there's any critters yeah on the the conchs, but that's what I really like about um.

Liz Donoghue:

So with that mushroom in particular, I actually made a toad on that one and that's what I really like because I feel like when I show these mushrooms to people, sometimes they'll ask, like what has inspired this?

Liz Donoghue:

or like, why did you make a toad? It's like, well, it's funny you mentioned, because this mushroom actually had a toad under it and I decided, like to put the toad on the mushroom that he was hanging out under. So, um, yeah, so I'm trying to put those, uh, those stories and things that I've enjoyed over the years into these mushrooms now, um, so now go back to what I was saying too is just like now I'm now when I'm hunting and things, I'm just check for toads or other critters yeah, mushrooms.

Eldon Palmer:

Well, I think I love the story aspect of it. I mean in terms of even from just sharing your art, but also from you know, financially I'm far more interested in buying something that has a story with it, and when you can kind of share that story and that becomes part of the provenance, even all that stuff is far more valuable.

Liz Donoghue:

Someone else mentioned too, like one time they mentioned it's like it's so much more cool to say that you got it from an artist than you got it from Amazon. Just saying oh, absolutely like of course, yeah, and like you can always find like some cool stuff, like at you know home goods and things like that, but like to find something that's unique, that has a story tied to it, is so much cooler than being like nothing.

Liz Donoghue:

I go home goods all the time but anyways but it's like so much cooler to like find something that's unique and has a story tied to it or a memory, something that you connect with.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, that's what I love about art too. My and for me, my mom was arts and crafts her whole life. She did all kinds of stuff, and all over the place too and how about you then, if you've done it um, as a kid I did a ton. I mean, mom, we had a ceramic store, so a lot of painting. I loved my art classes in school. Illustrating I'd sit in, you know, elementary I would draw snowmobiles, I love that, and on hills and stories and stuff Like just fun.

Liz Donoghue:

Because you always have a creative element. Yeah, I enjoy you always like being creative, so you've always kind of done the same.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, and even in the photography stuff is cool. I think everybody has some of that in them and they might express it in different ways. It might express it through growing a business. But yeah, it's enjoyable.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah.

Eldon Palmer:

As we kind of wrap up and get closer. Anything, what, any takeaways you think. What are you excited about? I guess let's go there first about what's next um.

Liz Donoghue:

So yeah, I kind of mentioned before I'm trying to build a brand. Now. That's kind of like been my focus and it's called musha bloom studio. Um, and why musha bloom is because I've always kind of been inspired by the song feist called musha boom okay, it's about kind of like living the simple life, kind of like carefree, and I always liked the idea of just being living simply, simply and um, just kind of like like being relaxing, like just being chill, I guess yeah so I kind of adapted it and made it my my own in that way.

Liz Donoghue:

So musha bloom instead, um. So kind of like having this uh brand of just you know uh, of what am I trying to say?

Liz Donoghue:

just like, um, a more calm and kind of relaxing, kind of like vibe, yeah, with, uh, a little bit of whimsy and play sure yeah, so I'm building this brand of called just a little bit of mushrooms, mostly focused on mushrooms and just handmade items, okay, and still kind of keep some of my painting roots. So I've got a lot of like watercolor and mushroom themes throughout everything and what I'm making currently, and it's exciting because I'm still kind of trying to just nail it down. I think that's why I'm having trouble explaining it. So it's still kind of like in just nail it down, and that's why I'm having trouble like explaining it.

Liz Donoghue:

So it's still kind of like in the works, yeah, but I'm excited to be like going into a direction that I feel excited about, versus just like trying to stay stuck in something I'm not really all in.

Liz Donoghue:

So it seems like there's a nice through line for you where you can kind of dabble in a lot of things, but it's still one thing it's mushrooms yeah you know, and there's more to it than mushrooms, but right, they come in thread sometimes like like right now, we're in the winter season and it's hard to be like well, what can I do if I don't have the mushrooms? So I've been trying to find other avenues. I really enjoy that like related for some time, yeah, and just kind of applying it to what I'm kind of trying to kind of build and create cool.

Eldon Palmer:

So where can people find you online or wherever?

Liz Donoghue:

yeah, instagram, instagram Facebook currently right now. So it's mushroom bloom studio, um, yeah, so I would hope that you would go and check it out.

Eldon Palmer:

Perfect.

Liz Donoghue:

That's you. And you also can sign up for things and find more more of my stuff.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, well, awesome, I appreciate you being here. Anything else you want to share before we wrap?

Liz Donoghue:

Not sure.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah.

Liz Donoghue:

Yeah, I'm so bad at closing out these things. No, this is good. I would say go out there and find your own mushrooms out there and give it a try. Yeah, don't be afraid to try something new and create something.

Eldon Palmer:

So that's my piece of advice.

Liz Donoghue:

I guess is if you want to create, just go ahead and do it. Get going, Even if it's bad, just do it Just try it.

Eldon Palmer:

Yeah, all right, appreciate you guys. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, sweet. Thanks for having me. Hey, let's pause for a moment to thank our sponsors. The Palmer Group with 616 Realty, a small, experienced real estate team right here in West Michigan with over 20 years experience helping buyers, sellers, builders and investors reach their real estate goals. We love to solve problems and we're quite often known as the problem solver. So if you have a real estate challenge, you want to look for that dream home, need help figuring out that tricky land deal, give us a call. We'd love to help. You can find more out at thepalmergroup. That's thepalmergroup, not thepalmercom. Thepalmer.

Liz Donoghue:

G-R-O-U-P.

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Eldon Palmer

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