This post is part of our Artisan Profiles series, promoting authentic artisans and their products. Artisans: get your store featured by joining our free Buy Handmade campaign. Read the others here.
LSD Unlimited is a fun, mushroom-themed group effort between three friends as they sell “(L)aser Cut Designs, Mu(S)hroom Art, and Inter(D)imensional Puns.” Their designs include coasters, trellises, plush toy mushrooms, and more.
Welcome to Artisans Co-op!
ARTISAN PROFILE
Artisans: Emo With a Laser (She/Her), Dad (He/Him), Meow (They/Them)
Shop: LSD Unlimited
Socials: Instagram
Artisans’ Interview
What’s the name of your business, if you use one? Why did you choose it? – What do you create/sell?
We are LSD Unlimited. We make custom laser cut art, apparel, and small gifts for humans and plant friends. Originally, “LSD” was meant as an acronym for Laser Services Done. But we kept changing our minds and business model, so the “Unlimited” seemed like a great way to keep things open and free to test new ideas under one umbrella. We also thought it would be super fun to see legal documents that say “LSD Unlimited LLC” on them.
Do you currently have a shop or website up and running? Where can we find you?
How long have you been creating? What made you want to start your business/start selling your art?
We’ve been creating for most of our lives in different contexts. We all went to art school, some of us teach art, some of us have kids. We’ve seen what happens when creativity is shaped by institutions, for better or worse, and wanted to create a space where we could explore again without the constraints or expectations set by others. We also just wanted to make things that made us happy and that could bring joy to others.
What does your creative process look like? If you work with a creative partner, how is it to work together, or do you have different roles in the process?
We draw and design our own graphics and then laser cut plant trellises, coasters, earrings, and other things. Emo with a Laser spends a lot of time with mushrooms and is guiding much of our creative process right now. Meow receives messages from dolphins and manages our digital presence. Dad fixes things and makes dad jokes. Working together is fun. It feels nice to uplift our strengths and contribute in ways that make us feel whole.
What part of creation do you enjoy the most? (The process, seeing the finished product, seeing people’s reactions to receiving the art/product, etc.)
Mushrooms have always been a big part of my life growing up because Japanese people eat a lot of mushrooms. Shiitake, Maitake, Matsutake, Enoki, Eringi, Nametake, to name a few. I’ve always found them to be delicious and they look cute too! One day a friend of mine gave me and my partner some psychedelic mushroom spores he purchased on the dark web. It looked weird, it was in a syringe and he didn’t know what to do with it. My partner did a lot of research and he grew them in an empty fish tank in our kitchen. It was fascinating, and from then on we have been a bit obsessed with them. That’s when I started designing trellises and coasters that I wanted for myself from drawings that I made. I gave them to friends as gifts and they asked me to make more, and that was the motivation behind making our products.
What is your Number One piece of advice for fellow artisans (biggest lesson learned)?
We wholeheartedly admire people who make things and think about the true value of our labor and the things that we make. It’s not easy to do, with so many forces competing for time, attention, and just basic survival. But what we are learning is that if we want to create sustainability, integrity, and joy through our work as artisans, we need to cultivate relationships and stay true to our values.
What is your biggest inspiration?
Liberation from bosses and workplaces.
Is there a specific niche or target audience you are trying to reach with your art?
Mushroom people and plant people.
What do you hope to gain from joining the Artisans Co-op?
Being with other awesome artisans and seeing us all thrive together.
About Artisans Cooperative
We are growing an online handmade marketplace for an inclusive network of creatives: a co-op alternative to Etsy.
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