We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elissa Swick a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elissa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In order to be successful I think it takes determination and drive to reach your goal. This means working through challenges and struggles and moments of self doubt and many times being your own teacher and mentor to get where you want to be. I am almost completely self taught and have had to persevere through challenges of finding the correct materials and techniques to not just make stained glass, but to develop techniques to work with 3-dimensional shapes and create intricate designs that are unique to my style as an artist.

Elissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always admired my artist mother from a young age and watched in awe as she created stained glass and handmade paper projects. As I grew up I never felt I had been gifted with an artistic touch, but I refused to give up on my dream of creating something beautiful.

I tried many different mediums from watercolors to pastels. Then one day I asked my mom to show me the stained glass process and I fell completely in love. It only took one lesson for me to become obsessed. She saw that I was inspired and since she lives 4 hours away, she told me to take her unused tools back here to St. Pete, so that I could continue to practice. I have never looked back and now enjoy creating one-of-a-kind jewelry, home decor, three-dimensional glass pieces, and colorful sun catchers.

What I am most proud of is that I have managed to juggle being a full-time elementary school teacher while running my stained glass business on the side. I feel that it is important for my students seeing that hard work and creativity can pay off, and I want to continue to be that role-model for them.

I love taking commissions and working with my clients to give them custom and lasting artwork that fits their personality and style. My favorite pieces use color, shadow, and reflections to create illusions and depth that give the viewer something different to look at from every angle. What sets me apart from others is my use of small details and dimension to create art that is both functional and beautiful out of stained glass.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding part of doing stained glass is taking raw materials and an idea and turning them into something that is tangible and solid and seeing the reaction of people to my craft.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I had to unlearn is that I would not succeed as an artist because I had always leaned into school and being more traditionally “book smart” than creatively intelligent, and I felt that others around me just had a raw talent that I didn’t posess. I realized that I could work at my creativity and skills as an artist through practice and trial and error. This was a huge lesson that took me years to learn, but when I did it really opened doors for me and made me feel like I had realized what I was capable of.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/electricelliegance
• Instagram: @electricelliegance
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/electric.elliegance