How & Why it was created!
Created by designer and artist Alisa Weldon, LIFE DEMANDS BOTH ENDS™ began with her watercolor painting DREAM, Life Demands Both Ends—the second work in her Memory Serves series. The series reimagines familiar, nostalgic objects painted with realistic watercolor detail, layered over a repetitive, hand-rendered message. It merges her decades of conceptual graphic design expertise with her expressive artistic process.
The Pencil—following the debut work, a giant chocolate chip cookie titled ACCOMPLISHMENT, Want a Cookie?—emerged as both symbol and source: a humble yet powerful tool that has quietly shaped Alisa’s life and career. Hung in her studio, the piece resonated deeply with visitors. Then, one night at 2 a.m., Alisa awoke from a literal dream and sketched on her bathroom mirror the vision of a towering 8-foot pencil sculpture, point down, inscribing the words: “Dear Self, So what will you do today?”
Called to bring it to life, Alisa collaborated with her furniture-maker friend to start the design and build. Two months later, the sculpture debuted at Houston’s Winter Street Studios in Sawyer Yards during a campus-wide exhibit. Visitors were moved—and they began asking for a smaller version. That simple question, paired with a long-held desire to write a heartfelt, inspirational book, sparked the creation of this artful gift.
Today, LIFE DEMANDS BOTH ENDS™ is offered as a keepsake—an artful sculpture and inspirational book designed to celebrate new chapters, thoughtful pauses, and intentional paths forward.
Mission Statment
To remind everyone—no matter who you are or where you come from—that life is a process of beginning, refining, and beginning again.
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The pencil (our symbol) belongs to ALL of us. It is the everyday tool that helps us learn, imagine, make mistakes, and grow wiser. We create books, sculptures, and messages that speak to the shared human experience: the joy of starting fresh, the humility of editing, and the courage to keep going. Our work exists to inspire connection, spark reflection, and remind people that the extraordinary is often found in the most ordinary things.
This is for anyone who dares to be intentional with their heart and mind, and who honors the process as much as the end product.And, for the quiet belief that something small . . . an idea, a sketch, a sentence could carry meaning beyond myself. - Alisa Weldon
Photo credit: Friendswood High School 1993 Yearbook, Alisa Weldon (Senior Year, Independent Study Art class with The Pencil in hand)