Lisa Congdon has been on my radar for several years.

As a fine artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon is best known for her colorful abstract paintings, intricate line drawings, pattern design & hand lettering. She works for clients around the world including the MoMA, Harvard University, Martha Stewart Living, Chronicle Books, Simon & Schuster, and Random House Publishing, among many others.

She exhibits her work around the country, including shows at the Contemporary Jewish Museum and Bedford Gallery in California.

Lisa writes a popular daily blog about her work, life and inspiration called Today is Going to be Awesome. And she she seems to me to be quite a force on Instagram.

She is the author of six books, including the starving-artist-myth-smashing Art Inc: (Which I thoroughly enjoyed...) It is The Essential Guide to Building Your Career as an Artist, as well as the illustrated books The Joy of Swimming, Fortune Favors the Brave, Twenty Ways to Draw a Tulip, A Collection a Day, and the first book of Lisa’s that I read, Whatever You Are, Be a Good One,.

Her seventh book, A Glorious Freedom: On Being a Woman, Getting Older, and Living an Extraordinary Life will be released by Chronicle Books later this year.

She was named one of 40 Women Over 40 to Watch in 2015. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon.