When I first met Illustrator author and teacher Lisa Cungdon, she was working out of a studio

in San Francisco. We became fast friends shortly after. We taped our first conversation,

and I fell in love not just with her work, but with her big heart, her thoughtful lens on

working life, love and play and the quest to make things and be creative. I also really love that

Lisa didn't come to art until she was almost 40 years old, and over the last dozen years or so,

she has shown so many people with her generosity how it's never too late to step into your creative side,

whether or not it ever becomes your career. And of course for her, it has. Now with this really

thriving career, a long list of commissions from everyone from private collectors to giant companies,

public shows. She is astonishingly prolific, sharing a huge volume of work on social media,

creating and selling online in her retail store and workshop in Portland, Oregon, and collaborating

to create everything from textiles to all sorts of merchandise. And along the way, she's written

and illustrated a bunch of books, taught and spoken all over the world. And now before taking

a sabbatical in 2020, she has released one more offering into the world, a great new book

called Find Your Artistic Voice, which is all about discovering and sharing that deepest,

most unique part of yourself, both as an artist and a human being. We dive into and explore all of

this in today's conversation, along with things like how saying yes, isn't always the best option

the role of seeming non-creative practices in living your best creative life and life beyond that.

And why working less can sometimes actually be a path to more and better work and living

and so much more. So excited to share this conversation with you. I'm Jonathan Fields,

and this is Good Life Project.

This book tour was sort of an experiment for me because I have never traveled for this long

and sort of simultaneously had to keep marching forward but also maintain all the aspects of my

...