Lisa Congdon on the Intersection of Bikes and Art

We collaborated with Portland, Oregon-based artist Lisa Congdon to create limited-edition eyewear pieces packed with her signature colorful style. In honor of this exclusive collection, we sat down with Lisa to chat about art, fashion, and how discipline is key for her in the studio and on the road. 

Smith: How did you first get into art? 

LC: I got into art pretty late in life. I was in my early 30s, which now feels very young to me, but at the time, I could never have imagined that it would become my career. Growing up, I kind of felt like I was the least creative person in my family.  Then when I was in my 20s, I definitely shifted. I got into a relationship with somebody who was an artist and a graphic designer and I was introduced to this whole world that I had never really been exposed to. Museums, learning about artists, learning about art, learning about design. 

We ended up breaking up and then I moved into this tiny apartment and kept making art there and really poured myself into it because I was single for the first time in my adult life in my early 30s. I started taking art classes at the community center in the early 2000s, which was several years later, but by that point, I had kind of become addicted to making stuff.

I was never imagining that I would become a well-known artist and designer, especially because I was self-taught. I never went to school. I thought maybe I’ll make some small paintings and have some little shows or, design a little thing here or there. But once I got started, I was all in.

I think oftentimes people think like we have this idealized notion of what it means to be a young person and that you have the best ideas and the most creativity, but some of the most talented people I know out in the world are in their 50s and 60s. They have grown their work, and their work is more developed and richer. I began to realize that so much of what I brought, not just my aesthetic or my work, but also to being an entrepreneur, is a lot of life experience that made that experience better.

Smith: How does cycling and being active fuel your creativity and vice versa? 

LC: You are never going to become a strong cyclist without working out and practicing and doing your workouts and showing up and doing the work. The same is true for any creative career. You have to practice. You have to have discipline.

I’m about to turn 57, and I would say that in the last seven years of my life, cycling has become really, really important. Next to my creative career and my family, it is one of the most important things in my life.

For me, the intersection of bikes and art is my happy place. Part of the reason I love cycling is it brings me more joy and relief from stress than anything in my life and it really is like my mental health reset. Cycling is so integral to my own sense of self-care.

Smith: Can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration for this collection? 

LC: I really wanted to infuse the joy that I have for cycling into the glasses that I was designing. Color is a great way to express joy, and pattern is a great way to express joy, and that’s really what I wanted to infuse in the Bobcats. 

With the Sways I wanted a cool, joyful, interesting, colorful pattern to say this is not so serious. We can have fun. We can laugh. We can dance. I just hope that these glasses bring people joy.

Shop the online exclusive collection here.