Benicia Artist Lisa Baer (aka Eliza Doom): Making What Is Old New Again

Lisa Baer is a multi-facetted artist whose life experiences have defined her art.

"I first got started making jewelry based solely on my fascination for sea shells," said Baer. "I spent a month on a remote beach in Mexico. Every morning I collected shells until I had an entire ice chest full. From there, I started making wind chimes and I wanted to add beads because no one else had. I then fell in love with gemstone beads, and I started making jewelry with the shells as well. I was able to make enough money from the handmade treasures contained in my cooler for a year or so. I called my little endeavor Earth Works."

However, when Baer got called away to become a All American Girl dancer for the World Basketball League in Los Angeles, her jewelry took a back seat but she did continue to collect beads.

"When I  got married and moved to Portland Ore., I started making jewelry and painting again; plus, I also collected vintage treasures: glitz and glam. I love vintage," she said. "I liked the feel and sense of the eclectic, designing by combining the old and the new. Updating the past and bringing it shining back to life is more popular now, with the eco-friendly movement, but not 10 years ago, when I started."

Baer grew up in Salt Lake City and is quick to point out she's not a Mormon (sorry, everyone asks that question).  She moved to Benicia six years ago and laughingly describes herself as a starving artist. 

She was a national gymnast and cheerleader and didn’t have time for many other things.  Over the years she's worked as a makeup artist, aroma therapist, stunt woman, traveled across the states and taught cheerleading, been a gymnastics coach and sports model, and participated in mountain biking, rock climbing and wind surfing.   

Her alter ego, Eliza Doom, loves living next to the graveyard and wanders inside, where she finds peace and often hides.   

"I love doing collages. They are all done with graffiti from around the world," said Baer. "I find graffiti has a beauty and is the unspoken truth of society."

"My bottles are really fun to do," she said. "The most challenging thing about my art work is having the time to do the thousands of things in my head. I also find selling my work hard because it’s mine. It’s easy to sell other people’s stuff but not so easy selling my own. Maybe it’s because I can be a bit shy for a very outgoing person."