From Architecture to Art, How Lissie Loves Began

Founder Lissie shares how a background in architecture and interior design led to live wedding painting, murals and Lissie Loves, an art-led design studio.

People are often surprised when I tell them I didn't start out as a full-time artist. Before I ever painted at a wedding, I studied architecture and worked in architecture and interior design firms across the Midlands. I still think like a designer today, and it's the reason Lissie Loves looks at every wall, venue and invitation the way it does.

A paintbrush from the start

I've been painting for as long as I can remember. I picked up my first canvas when I was 12, and after that I'd come home from school and head straight to my paints. Art was always the thing I went back to.

When it came to choosing a career, architecture felt like the perfect mix of creativity and design, and I completed my degree in 2016. It taught me critical design skills that I still use every day. I learned that a space is never just four walls, and that the light, the scale, the materials and the way people use a room all shape how it feels.

Finding my way back to art

Even so, I missed my original art practice. After graduating I went back to it properly, completing an art residency and travelling to America to teach art at a summer camp. Spending my days painting and sharing that joy with others reminded me how much I loved it.

When I came home I joined architecture practices across the Midlands, and later moved into interior design. I kept painting the whole time, but I soon realised the work was far more office and computer based than I'd imagined. I missed being creative with my hands, and I missed the feeling of a blank canvas.

Picking up the paintbrush for good

I set up Lissie Art in 2017, and in 2018 I painted my first wedding live. I'll never forget the feeling of guests gathering around the easel to watch the day come to life on canvas. Once I started running my own business, I realised how much I loved being my own boss and shaping my work around what I care about most.

Over the years that followed I painted more than 200 weddings and events, from St Paul's Cathedral and Kensington Palace to destination weddings at Lake Como, in the Algarve and in Santorini. I even found myself painting on BBC's The One Show.

Alongside the weddings I was painting on a much bigger scale. I took part in sculpture trails across the UK, painting giant ducks, snails, elephants and buckets for charity, and during the pandemic, when I worked as a care worker, I created a mural of my colleagues for the QMC hospital in Nottingham. Those projects reminded me how much I loved working at scale and how art can change the way people feel in a space.

Growing into Lissie Loves

From 2018 onwards I painted live at weddings and events, creating artwork for couples to treasure from their celebrations. By 2024, live painting had boomed in popularity, and I knew I wanted to build a team so more couples and brands could enjoy it. I took on Katie as my second artist, and together we developed Cupid & Co. Our little cupids have since created live art for Amazon Music and at Kensington Palace, and watching the team grow has been one of the proudest parts of my journey.

At the same time, I knew I wanted something more. I missed the technical, building side of architecture and interior design, and the joy of designing something from the ground up. That's when Lissie Loves was born. It was really a brand for everything I loved and everything I loved creating for others, which is where our tagline comes from: enchanting designs to bring wonder to the people and places you love.

An art-led design studio for spaces and celebrations

Today Lissie Loves has grown into an art-led design studio for spaces and celebrations. The idea behind so many of our designs is to create something from art. Many of our pieces are hand-painted, and we dabble in digital illustration too, so a mural, a backdrop or a set of invitations all begin with a drawing or a brushstroke. We paint murals for homes and businesses, create hand-painted backdrops and displays for weddings and events, and design signage and stationery that ties everything together. Cupid & Co brings live art to the day itself.

Everything still starts the way I was taught in architecture, by understanding the space and the people who will use it. The difference now is that I get to finish every project with a paintbrush in my hand.

If you have a wall, a wedding or an event you'd like to bring to life, I'd love to hear about it.