Portland illustrator and fine artist Lisa Congdon, named one of 2015's 40 Women over 40, was raised in both upstate New York and Northern California where she grew to love the trees and animals that surrounded her. That love is now expressed through her paintings and drawings. Lisa is predominantly self taught and did not begin painting until she was 31 years old. She is also a prolific collector of old and unusual things and surrounds herself with these things in her home & studio. In 2010 she chronicled her collections in her Collection A Day 2010 Project. That project is now a book, published in March 2011. In 2012, Lisa engaged in another daily project called 365 Days of Hand Lettering, 100 of her hand lettered quotes from that project published by Chronicle Books in Spring of 2014. Lisa is also the author of 50 Ways to Draw a Tulip, Just Add Color: Folk Art, Just Add Color: Geometric Patterns, and Draw 500 Fabulous Flowers. She was named one of 2015's 40 Women to Watch over 40.

www.lisacongdon.com

"I have been a fan of Lisa Congdon's work for a long time. I'm also a fan of the entire 20 Ways series from Quarry. Several fabulous artists have contributed to this series, guiding aspiring artists on how to draw not only tulips (and countless other types of flowers), but trees, butterflies, and fruit, too. Like all books in the series, this one is full of pictorial prompts and blank space for you to try your hand at illustration." - Jen Perkins, Blogher