South Dakota Art Gets a Fresh Look with Artist Liz Derby | Sticks and Steel

We Asked Minnesota Artist Liz Derby to "Move West"

Sometimes you discover an artist whose work just makes you happy.

That was pretty much our reaction when we first found the colorful, contemporary prints of Twin Cities artist Liz Derby, the artist behind Little Dipper Art.

We started carrying Liz's work at Sticks and Steel this spring with her Midwest plants and flowers collection. We loved her Minnesota landmark pieces too, but weren't quite sure how many South Dakotans were looking to put Minnesota on their walls. 😉

The plants and flowers, though? Those felt right at home here. And when Liz released her bird collection later in the spring, we happily added those too.

By then, we'd become pretty big fans of her style.

Liz takes familiar subjects and pares them down to bold shapes, clean lines and wonderful blocks of color. The result is graphic, modern and just plain fun.

And the more we looked at all those great Minnesota landmarks she'd interpreted in her unmistakable style, the more we started thinking...

Hey, what about us?

Okay, maybe we were getting a little jealous of Minnesota.

So We Asked Liz to Move West

Not literally, of course.

But we couldn't help wondering: Wouldn't it be fun to see what Liz could do with Sioux Falls and South Dakota?

So we asked.

We gave Liz a list of some of the places and icons we thought deserved the Little Dipper treatment, and then we let her run with it. She added ideas of her own, and we absolutely love where she took the collection.

Suddenly, some very familiar South Dakota sights looked completely fresh.

Falls Park. The Arc of Dreams. Mount Rushmore. The Badlands. The Corn Palace. Wall Drug.

Even that giant green Wall Drug dinosaur.

Yep. He made the cut.

Familiar Places, Seen Differently

That may be our favorite thing about Liz's work.

There are plenty of beautiful traditional prints and photographs of South Dakota landmarks. Liz isn't trying to recreate those. Instead, she finds the shapes, colors and details that make a place instantly recognizable and interprets them in her own clean, graphic style.

That approach makes a lot of sense when you learn a little more about her.

Liz is a Minneapolis-based designer as well as the artist behind Little Dipper Art. Her professional background is in product and UX design, work that often involves taking something complicated and finding a simpler, clearer way to communicate it.

You can see that design eye all over her artwork.

Liz describes her Minneapolis Minimalism series as a tribute to her hometown, characterized by simplicity, clean lines and intentional use of negative space. Her Little Dipper Art collection has grown beyond Minneapolis to include St. Paul, Midwest plants and flowers, birds, and other subjects close to home.

Now we're pretty tickled that South Dakota gets to join the party.

 

From Falls Park to the Pheasant

Liz ended up creating an entire collection of Sioux Falls and South Dakota art for us, and the mix couldn't be better. Shop the South Dakota Collection

Of course, some of the heavy hitters are here: Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Black Hills, Custer State Park, Falls Park, the Corn Palace and Wall Drug.

But she didn't stop there.

There's the Arc of Dreams, the Great Plains Zoo, our state flower (the pasque flower) and, naturally, a pheasant. She even created a South Dakota compilation that brings a whole collection of familiar sights together in one colorful piece.

It feels very South Dakota without feeling the least bit touristy.

And that's exactly why we think these prints are so much fun.

 

South Dakota Art for a More Modern Space

We can picture these going in all kinds of places.

A Falls Park or Arc of Dreams print would be terrific in a downtown Sioux Falls office. Mount Rushmore or the Badlands could add a little South Dakota personality to a modern home. The pheasant would be a fun addition to an office, den or lake house.

And for someone who grew up here but now lives somewhere else? We can't think of a much more cheerful little piece of home to send their way.

They're also an easy answer when you want a South Dakota gift but don't necessarily want something that looks like a souvenir.

These are pieces that celebrate where we're from while still feeling fresh, colorful and contemporary.

 

Welcome to South Dakota, Liz!

One of the best parts of owning Sticks and Steel has always been discovering artists and makers whose work feels a little different, and then getting to share it with all of you.

Every once in a while, we even get to nudge one of those artists in a new direction.

Or, in this case, about 200 miles west. 😉

We're so happy Liz said yes when we asked her to give South Dakota a try. She took places we've seen hundreds of times and gave us a completely new way to look at them.

Liz Derby's new Sioux Falls and South Dakota prints are now available at Sticks and Steel in downtown Sioux Falls and online. Shop the South Dakota Collection 

Come take a look. We have a feeling you'll recognize a few old friends, just looking considerably more colorful than you remember them.