Today we’d like to introduce you to Liv Lane.
Hi Liv, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
In fifth grade, I got to play the part of Dorothy in my St. Louis Park elementary school’s performance of The Wizard of Oz. It’s a highlight of my childhood, in part because for years, I had always felt like I was Dorothy. I, too, was a Midwestern girl surrounded by magic – a girl who didn’t fully understand her own power, gifts and the love all around her, but could see inside people and name theirs. There were no talking lions or tin men for me, but I saw spirits, talked with angels, and felt the energy all around me. I figured everyone experienced those things, too, until it became abundantly clear they did not.
I was very fortunate to have parents who didn’t shut me down when I talked about seeing or hearing things they couldn’t. They were always curious and supportive, and never made me feel strange or ashamed. However, by the time I was 9 or 10, I’d realized that most people either doubted or feared people with abilities like mine. And I didn’t want to be weird; I just wanted to fit in. So, I started hiding my connection to the Great Beyond. I didn’t tell friends I could see dead relatives around them. I didn’t tell neighbors I could feel their sadness from across the street. I didn’t tell my grandpa there was something wrong in his torso, and then I felt so guilty when he was diagnosed with lung cancer months later.
The older I got, the harder I tried to shut out those experiences, focusing my energy instead on a communications career and starting a family. The angels were around, but I barely listened and rarely talked to them anymore. But shutting them out became too hard as I healed from a traumatic birth with my firstborn. While he recovered miraculously, I tumbled into darkness. I toyed with leaving the planet, but help came just in time: a family intervention, a brilliant therapist, important medicine, and a diagnosis of postpartum depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As I slowly healed my head and heart, the intuitive, inexplicable insights and ethereal presences I’d tried for years to shut out came flooding in, too strong to ignore or hide anymore. I now believe that downward spiral was a divinely orchestrated attempt to wake me up, lead me back to myself and reveal a new path – my own yellow brick
road.
Eventually, I left the stability of corporate life to build my own business helping others tap into their gifts, from teaching classes to advising clients to create angel-inspired artwork. My goal was – and still is – to normalize the spiritual, intuitive experiences so many people have but are afraid to talk about and fully
trust.
I’m just a regular Minnesota mom and wife who happens to make art while a bunch of angels hover nearby and give suggestions. It feels magical at times, for sure. But I don’t get to bypass life’s challenges just because I see angels in my midst. They hang around – not just with me, but with everyone I see – to try to help us to move through life’s hard stuff (and good stuff) with grace, growth and gratitude.
For those who feel resistant or doubtful, that’s okay! I have no interest in convincing anyone else that what I see and hear is real. All the evidence I need is in the way this work makes me feel and the ways I see my artwork and writings help others feel connected, seen, inspired and cherished. I feel exceedingly lucky that this is where my yellow brick road led me, and grateful that it has intersected with the paths of so many wonderful people and experiences along the way.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
After 15 years of being a creative entrepreneur, it’s definitely not been a smooth road the whole time, but I’ve gained so much from the learning curves and speed bumps. The early years were full of trial and error; I had very little success trying to sell my art at fairs and conferences, I had a book deal fall through a week before the manuscript was set to be published, and I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels because I was trying to do too many things, from consulting to hosting a radio show to my art. But as I fine-tuned what worked for me – financially, logistically and emotionally – I found my groove as an artist and advisor to creative, intuitive clients.
The biggest struggle was totally out of my control, though, when I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer in late 2018. My business was booming at the time; my schedule was booked solid with client sessions, online classes, and selling my art online. I thought somehow I’d be able to keep it all going through treatment, but hit a wall within a couple of weeks and everything came to a halt. I basically didn’t work for a year, and though I’m thrilled to be in remission, I’ve had a lot of physical complications and surgeries that have forced me to change how I work. I paint and write when I feel good, and I’m really fortunate to have such a supportive client base that keeps me afloat and keeps me sharing my work with others.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
For many years, I hid that I’ve always felt, seen and heard angels because I knew that would sound nuts to a lot of people. I wanted to be taken seriously and just be normal – but hiding them or ignoring them always left me feeling like I was showing up in the world authentically. Though I’d been creating different kinds of art on my own for years, from necklaces to greeting cards, I was shocked when the angels asked me in 2017 to start painting with watercolors by following their instructions. It was a totally new medium for me, and trusting their guidance on every brushstroke was wild. These ethereal, abstract and highly detailed paintings emerged on the canvas – and I was stunned by people’s responses to them. It totally shifted my focus in my art; I literally paint angels with the angels. How lucky am I!? Many are custom, original paintings for clients, but earlier this year (2022) I launched WingTips™, which are five sets of angel art prints that come with comforting, inspiring guidance on the back of each. I’ve been so touched by the response to those and, to be honest, I lean on them myself when I’m feeling out of sorts or not spiritually and emotionally grounded.
I’m proud that I have stayed true to who I am and the gifts I was given. I’m proud of forging a career path that allowed me to be around for my kids, that I kept creating during tough times, and that what I do adds a little bit of beauty and hope to the world.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Last year, each one of my original WingTips angel paintings sold in mere minutes, reflecting a real hunger for comfort and inspiration during these turbulent times.
Now, I’ve partnered with JuneCo to spread the WingTips angel love to more people! There are five themed sets of WingTips prints, each with eleven angel watercolor paintings, with more in-depth angelic guidance on the back of each 5×5″ print.
Pricing:
- Each of these WingTips starter sets is packaged with a wooden display easel, Selecting a print each morning to display can be a fantastic grounding practice. Starter sets are $26.99, and include WingTips for Finding Magic & Meaning, and WingTips for Pursuing Your Dreams.
- Supplemental packs ($18.99) include WingTips for Facing Hard Things, WingTips for Healing Your Heart, and WingTips for Changing the World.
- The complete collection of five WingTips themed sets is available for $108.
- WingTips can be ordered at livlane.com/wingtips.
Contact Info:
- Website: livlane.com
- Instagram: @livlane
- Facebook: @livlane
