November 7th, 2024
Bivo is so excited to launch our first ever full color artist series bottle with Lisa Congdon!
Lisa's graphics are right up Bivo’s alley: bright, bold, modern and fun! Lisa exhibits her work internationally, and she has received recognition, not just as an artist, but as a leader for her work in social justice, mentoring and teaching.
It has been a pleasure collaborating with Lisa on this special edition bottle.
Bivo is so excited to launch our first ever full color artist series bottle with Lisa Congdon!
Lisa's graphics are right up Bivo’s alley: bright, bold, modern and fun! Lisa exhibits her work internationally, and she has received recognition, not just as an artist, but as a leader for her work in social justice, mentoring and teaching.
It has been a pleasure collaborating with Lisa on this special edition bottle.
We interviewed Lisa about her passion for design and cycling. Read on to get to know Lisa and learn the inspiration behind the bottle.
Lisa: I became interested in art and design in my early 20’s when I got into a relationship with a graphic designer who was also a painter. Our house was covered in art and design books and I started going to museums and learning so much about art and design. At the time, I never imagined that I would one day become an artist myself, and that transition happened many years later. But I do think the seeds were planted then!
I have so many influences and inspirations. I love mid-century design. Ray and Charles Eames and Alexander Girard are some of my greatest inspirations. I also draw a lot of inspiration from surf and skate culture, and from the graphic design that has come from that world. I’m also a huge fan of folk art and you’ll see that influence in my work through my use of symbols and quilt imagery.
Lisa: Like most people, I rode a bike when I was a kid. But I never really rode much as an adult untilI I was about 30 years old in 1998. I was invited by a friend to train for and ride what was then called the California AIDS Ride (now the California AIDS Lifecycle), which is a 7-day group cycling event designed to raise money for AIDS research and healthcare. I trained for the ride, which was 540 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles. At the time, it was the hardest thing I’d ever done. It wasn’t until I moved to Portland in 2015 that I really got into riding bikes in a big way. It all started when I joined a women’s cycling club here, and then intensified during the pandemic when I realized that bikes would provide me with a social and training outlet that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I started riding and then very quickly racing gravel, and now riding and racing have become a really huge part of my life. I train with a coach and ride thousands of miles a year.
Lisa: The intersection of the Venn Diagram of three of the most important parts of my life – art, bikes and community – is my happy place. Whenever I have the opportunity to design for the bike world – whether it is sunglasses for Smith, a poster for Mid South and The Last Best Ride, a jersey for Velocio, branding for Special Blend Gravel, or, now, this bottle for Bivo – I feel like I won the lottery. And then when I get to share those things with the world, or they lead to friendships or getting more people on bikes, I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
We interviewed Lisa about her passion for design and cycling. Read on to get to know Lisa and learn the inspiration behind the bottle.
Lisa: I became interested in art and design in my early 20’s when I got into a relationship with a graphic designer who was also a painter. Our house was covered in art and design books and I started going to museums and learning so much about art and design. At the time, I never imagined that I would one day become an artist myself, and that transition happened many years later. But I do think the seeds were planted then!
I have so many influences and inspirations. I love mid-century design. Ray and Charles Eames and Alexander Girard are some of my greatest inspirations. I also draw a lot of inspiration from surf and skate culture, and from the graphic design that has come from that world. I’m also a huge fan of folk art and you’ll see that influence in my work through my use of symbols and quilt imagery.
Lisa: Like most people, I rode a bike when I was a kid. But I never really rode much as an adult untilI I was about 30 years old in 1998. I was invited by a friend to train for and ride what was then called the California AIDS Ride (now the California AIDS Lifecycle), which is a 7-day group cycling event designed to raise money for AIDS research and healthcare. I trained for the ride, which was 540 miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles. At the time, it was the hardest thing I’d ever done. It wasn’t until I moved to Portland in 2015 that I really got into riding bikes in a big way. It all started when I joined a women’s cycling club here, and then intensified during the pandemic when I realized that bikes would provide me with a social and training outlet that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I started riding and then very quickly racing gravel, and now riding and racing have become a really huge part of my life. I train with a coach and ride thousands of miles a year.
Lisa: The intersection of the Venn Diagram of three of the most important parts of my life – art, bikes and community – is my happy place. Whenever I have the opportunity to design for the bike world – whether it is sunglasses for Smith, a poster for Mid South and The Last Best Ride, a jersey for Velocio, branding for Special Blend Gravel, or, now, this bottle for Bivo – I feel like I won the lottery. And then when I get to share those things with the world, or they lead to friendships or getting more people on bikes, I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
Lisa: I mostly draw digitally now, on an iPad, in a program called ProCreate. I love the freedom that digital drawing allows. It’s clean, easy, and fast, which frees me up to make more art. It’s pretty much my only medium for all my illustration and design work. I still paint a decent amount! But mostly for gallery shows every year or so.
Lisa: Designing for anything cylindrical is always a challenge! Making sure that all parts of the bottle are interesting can feel a bit challenging sometimes, because there is no one part of the design that will automatically be the focal point.
Lisa: This bottle was inspired by pure joy. I use a lot of personal and universal symbols in my work. All of the symbols I used are ones that represent energy, joyfulness, and vitality. My color choices were really aimed at the same goal, also. I hope the bottle will remind people how lucky we are to get to ride bikes or just be outside!
Lisa: I mostly draw digitally now, on an iPad, in a program called ProCreate. I love the freedom that digital drawing allows. It’s clean, easy, and fast, which frees me up to make more art. It’s pretty much my only medium for all my illustration and design work. I still paint a decent amount! But mostly for gallery shows every year or so.
Lisa: Designing for anything cylindrical is always a challenge! Making sure that all parts of the bottle are interesting can feel a bit challenging sometimes, because there is no one part of the design that will automatically be the focal point.
Lisa: This bottle was inspired by pure joy. I use a lot of personal and universal symbols in my work. All of the symbols I used are ones that represent energy, joyfulness, and vitality. My color choices were really aimed at the same goal, also. I hope the bottle will remind people how lucky we are to get to ride bikes or just be outside!
Lisa Congdon is an internationally known fine artist, illustrator and writer. She makes art for clients around the globe, including many cycling brands and race promoters.
Lisa's happy place is the sweet spot at the intersection between art, activism and bikes. In 2021, she was named “One of the 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies According to Industry Creatives” published by AdWeek. When she's not making art, you can find her racing her bike around Oregon, mostly on gravel.
She lives and works in Portland, Oregon with her wife and her dog Milkshake.
Lisa Congdon is an internationally known fine artist, illustrator and writer. She makes art for clients around the globe, including many cycling brands and race promoters.
Lisa's happy place is the sweet spot at the intersection between art, activism and bikes. In 2021, she was named “One of the 50 Most Inspiring People and Companies According to Industry Creatives” published by AdWeek. When she's not making art, you can find her racing her bike around Oregon, mostly on gravel.
She lives and works in Portland, Oregon with her wife and her dog Milkshake.
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