Illustrator Lisa Congdon Kept Her Day Job for 10 Years Before Taking a Leap into Art

By
Joe C
-

Many of us have a passion we would like to follow but we’re too afraid to risk losing our day job that pays the bills. Illustrator Lisa Congdon found a perfect way to transition from a career in an education nonprofit organization to being a full-time artist. It took her 10 years, but she got there. The slow and steady process gave her enough time to contemplate if this is something she truly wants to do, so when decision time came, she didn’t have any doubts.

She first started taking art classes on the side “with zero intention of becoming an artist.” She did it as a hobby and a fun way to balance office work. Today, her work is followed by over 270,000 people on Instagram and she’s making a living with art. How amazing!

Scroll down to see her work.

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I present to you THE SPADE, a symbol the cosmic tree, aka LIFE. Fun fact: since medieval times the spade was also considered a symbol of winter and old age, and, thus, wisdom, acceptance and transformation. The spade is one of my favorite symbols (you'll see it appear in my work a lot), and I designed this spade to include other important associated symbols inside of it (many of you know I'm also obsessed with old playing cards). Another fun fact: a few days ago my friend Corinne sent me a link to a spade image from @diebenkornfoundation – and I learned that Diebenkorn was also fascinated by symbols (and also painted spades and clubs). Which, in turn, inspired me to draw this spade last night. Hope everyone has a great Sunday! ♠️ #lcongdonsymbols

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Acrylic on wood, 2017 • this is a painting I made for a show I had nearly a year ago at Fullerton College, where I also was the recipient of their 2018 residency. I painted so much between 2016-2018 because I had two solo shows in 2018, which was a lot (the one at Fullerton College was huge – I'd worked on it for two years). Since my solo show in August (at @stephaniechefasprojects) I have taken a little break from painting. I don't have another solo show scheduled till June of 2020 (also at Stephanie Chefas Projects). I've started to miss making my larger works! And I'm already thinking about my next body of work & where I'll go with it. I am ready to get started. I even bought some wood panels the other day (my larger paintings are almost always on wood). One thing I have now that I didn't have when I first started as an artist is the luxury of time. I have so many long term projects scheduled into the future and in progress (mostly books) that I can relax into them instead of worrying when the next one will come along. It took me a lot of years to get here and I'm grateful for it. 💙

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IF ONLY… 💙 Because this is merely my fantasy (if only it were that easy), I've had to develop real strategies for managing my anxiety over my adult life. And I'm happy to say it gets easier with practice. I've been using my worry and stress as regular, everyday opportunities to work on being present and not future-tripping. When I catch myself circling in anxiety about something (usually how I'm gonna get all my work finished by all the impending deadlines), I focus on my breathing & feeling my feet on the ground. I've also been asking myself "what am I REALLY afraid of here?" And then digging into the root of my worry. Sitting with, relaxing into & exploring uncomfortable feelings is f*cking hard (as opposed to distracting ourselves). But it's some of the most important work that those of us who are anxious & sensitive can do. It is my work every damn day. Also, I have never missed a deadline in 12 years so I should know by now to chill out & just do the work. 😅 Have a great Friday, everyone.

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Four years ago today my wife Clay and I and our three animals got in two cars and moved to Portland, Oregon. Sometime after we moved here, I painted this picture. This is what Portland has come to represent to me. In our house, we sometimes call it The Land of Milk & Honey. Sure, it rains a lot here between October & June, but the sun also shines a lot. And because of that magical combination, there are lots of rainbows here, and colorful flowers, and flowers on trees, everywhere, and green. SO MUCH GREEN. There a rivers and mountains all around, adorable neighborhoods and insanely delicious food on every corner. The summers here are sunny and hot, with daylight that creeps into bedtime. We found our cycling community here, and our creative community and our LGBTQ community. The solid friendships we've formed here in just four years exceed anything I've ever experienced anywhere. There is so much work to be done here, and I have found ways to get involved in activism & work on equity and inclusion in ways that felt prohibitive in other places I've lived. I did what I never could have done in San Francisco, and rented a giant studio & opened a shop in a space with a big skylight and friendly neighbors. My sister and her family and my parents are here and we have the gift of family dinners and saying "Hey, I'll be right over," to my beloveds. The beginning of our time here was not easy. There were tears. We were lonely. We missed California and our people. The weather in the winter took several seasons to learn to love. We questioned our decision. But I am so glad we stuck it out. Eventually we fell in love, and we fell hard. Thank you so much to everyone who made us feel so welcomed here. This is home.

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