photo by Leslie Sophia Lindell Photography, 2011
The artist. Lisa comes from a family of creative people and has been making things with her hands since she was very small, but she did not begin painting or drawing until she was in her early 30’s. Once she started, she was hooked, and for the past 10+ years she has been drawing, painting and cutting paper nearly every day. She has no formal artistic training and is mostly self-taught. Congdon’s vast catalog of work is most often themed around her passion for nature, geometrics and folk pattern. In 2011, she had her first major solo show at Gallery Hijinks in San Francisco. You can learn more about how Lisa got started and her thoughts on making art by listening to her podcast interview with Meighan O’Toole of My Love for You. As always, you can look at pictures of her vast portfolio on her website. To read a complete interview with Lisa about how she got started + her life in general, visit The Great Discontent.
The illustrator. In 2007 Lisa expanded her scope of work to include illustration. Her first three clients were Pottery Barn Teen, Chronicle Books and Poketo. Then in 2009 she signed with illustration agent Lilla Rogers. Her client list now includes Random House Publishing, Target, Harper Collins, Land of Nod, American Greetings, Urban Outfitters, Running Press, and Trader Joe’s, among others. She loves doing pattern and surface design and has illustrated numerous books, including The Dictionary of Extraordinary Ordinary Animals, which includes 150 hand painted illustrations of animals.
The collector. An avid collector since the age of five, Lisa is the author of A Collection a Day. A Collection a Day started on January 1, 2010 as a personal blog project on which Lisa posted a photograph of one of her collections every day for 365 days. Numerous print and online publications wrote about the project over the course of the year (including The New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, NPR, San Francisco Chronicle and the Canadian National Post). In early 2011 the blog was transformed into a book published by Uppercase in Canada. You can purchase a signed copy of the book directly from Lisa here or at a number of national and international bookstores.
The athlete. Lisa is an avid swimmer and cyclist. She’s been swimming her whole life, and for 11 years, she swam and coached on a team in San Francisco. She retired in 2006 to pursue her art career. Lisa still swims several times a week. Since then, she’s also taken up distance road cycling and has committed herself to climbing some of the steepest hills in the Bay Area of California on a regular basis. In 2012, she will participate in the California AIDS Lifecycle, a 7 day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money to end AIDS. Donate to Lisa’s fundraising efforts!
The homebody. Lisa lives in the Mission District of San Francisco with her partner Clay Lauren Walsh, their adorable Chihuahua Wilfredo, and their two silly cats, Barry and Margaret. When she’s not making art, perusing flea markets for cool stuff or riding her bike, she enjoys cooking delicious vegan meals for her partner and friends, watching films, listening to music and drawing in her sketchbook. Lisa’s light-filled studio where she spends most of her time is just a few blocks from her apartment. She enjoys the daily walk to and from her studio because it give her a chance to catch up on all her favorite podcasts.
