Hi! i’m Risa & i’m happy you’re here

photo by Brandon Joseph Baker

I sure do like making stuff.

I use to feel bad for not having that one thing I focused on. At some point I stopped caring because you know what? Sometimes there’s a medium that tells the story better than another and other times something else does. So WHY NOT create in different ways? I like telling stories, sharing how it feels to be a human who misses people/ moments, experiences grief, joy, being silly, and all the things.

“Being into a lot of things” got rebranded into “multi-media” artist and then again to “multi-disciplinary” artist (oooo, fancy). So, I guess i’m that. But the languages I like to tell my stories are: fiber arts (needle felting & sewing), paper, and illustration. Teaching is another thing I really love to do. Anyways, here’s my fancy pants artist bio.

Risa Iwasaki Culbertson is a multi-disciplinary artist in San Francisco, CA with a focus in: fiber arts, illustrating, and story telling. Biracial and born in Japan, she grew up creating art as a way to bridge the gap between her two worlds. Inspired by the healing and connective power of humor and play, she creates her wacky, whimsical, and colorful work as a way to process deep emotions in grief and joy, while creating places of belonging and find ways to stay connected to those we love. She also has a greeting card line, called PapaLlama, which can be found in stores nationwide.

I hope you’ll take a look at the things i’ve made and join me for a class or community event. Any which way, thanks for spending some time with me!