This week I feel so honored to have Lisa Congdon share five of her favorite books. Lisa is a self taught mixed media artist and illustrator living and working in San Francisco. And if you haven’t seen or heard of Lisa’s beautiful paintings and collages from her features in magazines, posts about her on design blogs or interviews like this one, it’s about time. (I recently became a proud owner of one of Lisa’s paintings which I love.) She says she is obsessed with collecting books and zines that represent the artistic genius of regular (and some not-so-regular) people, past and present. Someday Lisa would like to make a book. I can’t wait for that day. You can see more of Lisa’s own work on her site and her blog here. Now for some of her favorites…

Dear New Girl or Whatever Your Name Is is a fantastic example of McSweeney’s genius. Inspired by real notes written and passed by teenagers, the book is both graphically beautiful and incredibly touching. “Dear new girl or whatever the heck your name is…I just want to tell you that you are a hypocritical girl…,” begins the note that is positioned on the very first page of the book. As a substitute teacher in Los Angeles, Trinie Dalton confiscated the notes passed among students and amassed hundreds of notes. The best were sent to twenty-four artists, who drew and painted their interpretations. As impressive as the notes are the images. Artists include the Clayton Brothers, Rachell Sumpter and Marcel Dzama, among others. The result is a book that speaks volumes about the fragile teenage psyche.

© Julia Rothman 2007