You don’t have to starve to be an artist. Find out how to build a career doing what you love on a brand new episode of After the Jump. Grace Bonney is joined by Artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon, best known for her colorful paintings and drawings. Since 2007, she has been illustrating for clients including The Museum of Modern Art, Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Chronicle Books, The Land of Nod, The Obama Campaign and Simon & Schuster, among others. Lisa is also known for her intricate line drawings, pattern design & hand lettering and has licensed her work for fabric, kitchen linens, wallpaper and bedding. In addition to illustrating full time, Lisa maintains a thriving Etsy shop and writes a popular daily blog of her work, life and inspiration called Today is Going to be Awesome. She is the author of A Collection a Day, Whatever You Are, Be a Good One and Art Inc.. Tune in and find out how Lisa found her career in art, what advice she has for aspiring artists and what she plans on doing with the next phase of her life. This program was brought to you by Mail Chimp.

“I’ve always been sort of obsessed with digging up treasures.” [05:00 ]

“Because art is so subjective, we think we don’t deserve to be here we often feel like impostors. We’re mystified by the way it all works. Years later having figured out the way it all works, I have really learned that I have a place and that all of these ideas I had about what other people thought of me were all in my own head.” [12:00 ]

“I actually feel like my career will thrive more the more I’m enjoying my life in general. Sometimes working super hard all of the time is just not sustainable.” [29:00 ]

–Lisa Congdon on After the Jump