Hello! I’m Ellen. I make things.
 
I’m at a loss for what to say, after that - “making things” sums it up!

I draw, paint and make strange and wonderful objects mostly by feel - as I’m working, I follow what colours or shapes FEEL good, and I try to follow that thread of goodness from a blank page to a finished thing.

 

Making things is like breathing to me (as in - necessary in order to feel alive), but it’s taken me a long time to get to a place where I’m taking it “seriously” (without being too serious about it - that’s no fun at all).

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In my early 20’s I went to the Musee d’Orsay in Paris and while I was there I had a blinding epiphany that was so overwhelming I had to sit down on the stairs and recover for a while. I was buzzing with so much energy I couldn’t sleep for a week.

CREATE! said the epiphany.

YES! I said. It makes so much sense!

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So much sense that I overcomplicated it and spent the next seventeen years trying to FIGURE OUT what “create” meant, muddling along feeling lost and confused until now, when I've finally learned that actually, it really can be that simple.

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All I need to do to feel satisfied and fulfilled, and to make the world a happier and more curious place is: make things.

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The seventeen years I spent muddling along figuring this out weren't wasted though - in that time, I trained as an art therapist and learned a lot about people and what they need to be able to be kind to themselves and each other, and create their own bright, bold, creative lives.

These days I combine my work as an artist with my work as an art therapist and mentor to those who are also seeking a big, bold, magical creative life, because creating art and creating a delight-filled life are secretly kind of the same thing - they both use a lot of the same skills.

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Come follow me on Instagram if you feel like it - www.instagram.com/_maker_of_things