I’ve known artist Lisa Congdon for a million years, well not really but because internet years are like dog years, my knowing her since 2005 feels like forever. I first met her when she was still working as a Director of Program Development at a San Francisco non-profit education consulting organization and not yet a full-time artist as she is now. Back then, she was blogging under the name A Bird in the Hand to share her creative process and thoughts about everyday life, the work she created after work and on the weekends (pillows, collages, paintings, etc.) and to connect with other creative women (read an interview that I had with Lisa in 2006 here). Like most of us who took a leap of faith to leave our comfortable careers behind, I was cheering on Lisa as I watched her make that big leap and I’ve been cheering ever since.
I’ve always liked Lisa and have enjoyed watching her career blossom and grow throughout the years. She became a full-time artist and is involved in so many projects these days that I can’t keep up with her and I love seeing her talent being appreciated and well, seen everywhere. I’m so happy that she now has a book that has been published my Canadian independent publisher Janine Vangool of UPPERCASE called A Collection a Day. I was wondering when someone was going to be smart enough to approach her to do a book!
Why collections? For those of you unfamiliar with Lisa’s obsession with collections, she has been crazy for collecting random objects for years now – since childhood really, and she even started a blog dedicated to them with photos that span one full year where she shared her collections one by one in many interesting compositions. Her goal was to give herself a creative challenge by photographing all of them for the 2010 calendar year and her passion resulted in many online fans who grew to love her bloggy project. Very cool, right? I think so… Each page in her book shows the collections that she shared on this 12 month long blog project and I love seeing it as a book because her collections really shine so much more in print, plus I can flip through it over and over again for inspiration and well, the sheer pleasure that book flipping brings. :)
I love seeing talented people like Lisa who are online connecting with their readers, forming a tribe, and then being recognized by others including publishers who then take their work and publish it in print. So much of what we blog gets lost in the archives — I’m so happy that Lisa’s project didn’t.
I’m proud of you Lisa and congratulations on the new lovely book! xo
You can purchase Lisa’s book here.
(images: holly becker for decor8)
June 14th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
i’m so glad to see this was made into a book. her collections are so intricate and well curated. can’t wait to see what else lies ahead for this talented lady!
June 14th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I love books like this with tons of eye candy, the project sounds very cool. Off to check out her site!
June 14th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
I neeeed this book, it looks fab! :-) Yay Lisa!
June 14th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
There are all of a sudden so many great books coming out. I have been following Lisa on line for a while as well, thanks for the book overview.
June 14th, 2011 at 5:45 pm
I read her blog back in the day too (As well as her sisters)! The books looks great.
June 14th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Great book and idea! Lisa`s blog is also great, I`ve just discovered that old lottery cards I used to play in my childhood :)
June 14th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
What a fabulous book! It makes me wanting start thousands collections!
Lisa is awesome.
June 15th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
The pages of the book look so inspiring – another one add to my ‘to buy’ list. Congratulations to Lisa, fantastic to have it all in print.
June 15th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
Wow. lovely, I can’t wait to check this out.
June 16th, 2011 at 3:37 am
I’ve been a huge fan of Lisa’s ever since I stumbled upon a book about San Francisco kitchens while browsing at a bookshop in Tokyo. (Crazy, huh?)
Love this book so much — I like to make a cup of tea and just sit with it and savor each page — so relaxing, somehow.
I’m lucky enough to be taking her “Get Your Paint On” online class with her and Mati Rose — just finished my first assignment! Too fun!
June 16th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
The book is very detail…..love it…:)
June 16th, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Oh I’d love this book! I love the idea of collecting – I don’t collect much currently, but it seems like a fun hobby and something neat to pass down to your kids!
June 17th, 2011 at 10:12 am
Beautiful!
June 17th, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Oh how gorgeous! Once in a while I had a look at the new collections in her blog, but haven’t been there for a long time. I am glad to hear about the book – will be a good present….
June 18th, 2011 at 7:17 am
I was so thrilled when I heard A Collection A Day was being made into a book! I was glued to my screen and looked forward to each of her posts last year. Can’t wait to get my hands on her book.
June 18th, 2011 at 8:02 pm
such a sweet post for your friend lisa – who is obviously so, so talented. her books looks fabulous! thanks so much for sharing.
August 24th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Lisa Congdon is my favourite artis I love her , you got nice collection of her books !
Marie´s last [type] ..Summer 2011 nearly finished :(