The Creative Process Is Messy with Lisa Congdon
Lisa spent much of the last four years quitting things, some of them pretty big. This year, it was her retail business: three employees let go, a warehouse of inventory sold off, all so she could get back the joy she’d lost running it.
Lisa Congdon in her studio Lisa Congdon's illustration work Lisa Congdon's illustration work Lisa Congdon's illustration work Lisa Congdon's illustration work Lisa Congdon in her studio
I first heard you speak at a design conference years ago, and I’ve been following your work ever since. Somewhere along the way, your work seemed to shift from teaching people how to become better artists to encouraging them to become more themselves. Do you see that shift too?
My work has always been focused on my own journey, both as an artist and as a human being. I never set out to teach anyone anything through my art. I mean, I did write some books, but those feel different to me, separate from my work. Like most artists, I grapple a lot with the creative process (I still do). In the beginning those were things like figuring out who I was and what I was trying to say in my work. Now they are more about where I am headed creatively and how my work is changing as I age. And some of my work is literally about those processes. And maybe in sharing what I learn as I learn it, I also teach other people that going through growing pains is normal and that the creative process is messy. Similarly, I make a lot of work about how I show up in the world, and the importance of belonging, joy and radical acceptance, and perhaps in doing that I am teaching other people that this work is liberating. But that’s not really my goal.
What’s it been like to discover that people connect as deeply with your honesty as they do with your art?
For me, it never gets old. Like I said, all my work comes from my own personal experience. I never set out to be a teacher or a sage of any kind. I just make art about the stuff in life that I deal with, and what I learn along the way. And so the fact that other people can relate to that and find connection and hope in it is so incredibly gratifying. Making the work I make is helpful for my own journey, but to know it’s helpful for other people is also wonderful. I often say that I feel very lucky that I came of age in a time when I get to share what I make so openly and easily with the world. The touchpoint between me, my art and other people is so close, so immediate. Twenty, thirty years ago that would not have been possible. That is one beautiful thing about technology and the internet.
What’s the best thing you've ever quit?
Ooof. That is such a hard question because I have spent most of the last four years quitting things – and I have quit some pretty big things! But just recently I quit retail, which feels like maybe the biggest thing? I still have a little online shop, but I closed my larger retail business this summer, let my three employees go, and sold off my vast inventory. I realized last year that I felt burdened by running a big retail business, and that I no longer felt the joy it used to give me. It was a hard decision because I loved my team, and we had a pretty special thing going. It was practice in prioritizing myself and what I wanted over pleasing other people, which is really hard for me. But I did it, and it feels great. And everyone is okay, including my former team. I am currently still doing client work, writing another book and developing some classes. And I am trying to spend more time making art just for fun. So I’m still busy, but I have so much more freedom and flexibility in my work and in my life, which feels really amazing.
If I visited your studio tomorrow, would I find more tea or more to-do lists?
You’d probably find more to-do lists. But I am a work in progress, and I aim to have more tea!
What’s something you’re making more room for these days?
The creative process. Showing up and making things for the joy of making things. Discovery, Curiosity. Adventure in the studio.
You’ve worked with everyone from the U.S. Postal Service to MoMA to Google. Is there still a dream collaboration that would make your heart skip a beat?
I mean, I am an avid cyclist and the cycling community is a huge part of my life. So probably designing for a big cycling brand or a big race like The Tour de France Femmes.
There’s a quiet bravery running through everything Lisa says here, whether she’s talking about her art or her business. She never set out to teach anyone anything, and yet the lesson comes through anyway: that growing older and more experienced doesn’t mean the creative process gets less messy, it means you get more honest about the mess. Closing a business she’d built, letting go of a team she loved, choosing tea over a to-do list she’ll probably still make anyway, it’s all the same practice, over and over: prioritizing herself, even when it’s the hardest thing to do.
To see more of Lisa's art and illustrations, check out her website: https://lisacongdon.com/
This series works because people keep pointing me toward the next great conversation. If someone’s creativity has been stuck in your head lately, tell me who they are. I’d love to talk to them!
Until next week, Christine
