The Founding of Elle & Wink

image description: a white desk strewn with various art media including acrylic paint, gesso, and a jar of brushes. several small completed paintings are stacked in the middle of the desk. a glorious mess.

When did you become an artist?

Which kind of artist? I started sewing when I was seven; I started performing when I was ten. At some point in there I started writing poetry, too. I sing, I used to play the flute and the ukulele. It is safe to say I have always been artistic. I may have had some struggles with flitting between hobbies for a while though!

Okay, then, when did you decide to do this as a vocation?

This all happened as a series of small decisions. I started printmaking and painting in 2018, the very same summer that Winkie came to live with me. I was 33 human years old. A friend in Idaho invited me to participate in a group popup gallery at the end of that summer. People wanted to see my art and maybe even buy a few pieces!

During the pandemic lockdown of 2020 I got really serious about painting every day and I sold my first collection that November under the name Elle & Wink. I still saw this as a “side hustle” though.

How do you feel about this whole trajectory?

What a strange and wonderful life. I never imagined I would leave a teaching career, but I did. I never believed I would move back to my hometown, but here I am! I think my first-grade self would be very surprised, but very pleased with this eccentric artist life I’m living.

So what about all that creative energy?

It has a direction now. My brain does sometimes keep me awake at 4 in the morning spinning with ideas, and I often experience physical fatigue. However, building a space in my life for consistent creative expression has been a beautiful mess. The flitting is better, too!