Styled with a Smile - Page 4

"Over the course of that year, I came up with some lettering styles. They've morphed a ton since then, because that was a decade ago. But I always like to say, if you sit down and practice something enough, you'll get good at it."

Lisa's hard work began to pay off in 2012, she says, after she began posting her art on social media. "I was starting to get a lot of followers on Instagram. I reached a point where on my online shop, I started to sell things."

Also, her book Art Inc., "about making a living as an artist," came out that year. Lisa says her business background working for nonprofits unexpectedly benefited her art career. "And so I became known as a working artist who knew what she was doing, I guess."

Another growth year was 2016, when Lisa and her wife, Clay, who had been living in Oakland but couldn't afford to buy a home there, bought a Victorian home in Portland.

"I had my first employee in 2016," Lisa says. "And any time somebody is helping you with the administrative stuff or the bookkeeping, it leaves you more time to make art."

Then, in 2019, Lisa graduated from her garage, moving into her studio, later expanding into an adjacent space.

Rather than brag about success, Lisa says, "I feel really lucky, because I entered this industry at a time when it was still pretty easy to break in. And now everyone wants to be a commercial artist, to be a freelance artist, and it's a lot more competitive."

These days Lisa is interested in challenging herself to "grow as an artist" by taking on new things, "work that is uncomfortable because you're not even sure you can do it." One recent project had her providing holiday design for New York's immense and iconic Rockefeller Center. Her art included "a map and tons of illustrations that got blown up really huge."

Not surprisingly, the project took on a retro vibe. "I always think about 1950s New York, or 1960s New York, as 'Mad Men' or whatever," Lisa says. "That was a really fun project, but pretty stressful." She worried, "What if I finish and it looks terrible?" It didn't.

Another goal is to create more fine art for gallery exhibits. For a time, she says, "I never got to be imaginative and make work for a gallery show, or build a body of work from scratch, because I was always working for clients."

Another goal for Lisa and Clay is more personal than professional. "Now I live in an 1898 Victorian filled with mid-century furniture," Lisa says. "I've tried to make it work, but I dream of someday living in modern construction, whether it's new modern or old modern."

• For more on Lisa Congdon and her art, visit lisacongdon.com.

Illustrations & photography: courtesy Lisa Congdon