We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elysia King. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elysia below.

Alright, Elysia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve been painting, drawing, and designing my entire life. Most of my creations were gifts, and it never occurred to me that people would want to pay money for my work. Fast forward to the past decade: I graduated college with a nursing degree , and kept taking on any art opportunity that came my way all while working full time in the medical field. 2020 rolled around, and a friend asked me if I wanted to paint a wedding reception as it was happening. I said sure, how hard can it be? I had no idea that saying yes to a simple wedding painting would open up a door to me being able to create art full time. Within a few months of that initial live painting, I joined a team of artists called “Cloud Studio Agency” and started traveling and painting at weddings on the weekends. People started to take notice, commission requests started coming in, and suddenly my art “side hustle” was busier than my full time nursing career. By the end of 2021, I realized that I couldn’t be a nurse/artist/mom/wife and maintain my sanity. After praying and talking to people smarter than me, I made the incredibly difficult decision to leave the medical field and pursue art full time. That was 18 months ago, and my life has changed for the better. Pursuing art full time is one of the greatest risks I’ve taken, and I regret nothing.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

One of the main reasons I’m a full-time artist is because I never said no to any opportunity to create. Growing up, I knew that I loved art and I mainly used my artistic talent to create gifts for people. It was one of those things that compounded on itself. I saw a trend in my creative art life, in which every time I gifted a painting or drawing, someone else would see that gift and an art commission would come about. Even when I opted to pursue a career in nursing, the art opportunities never stopped. Fast forward to the past five years: I was a full time nurse, my husband an I had two boys, and I found myself making an art “bucket list”, and which I listed out the opportunities that I wanted to experience as a freelance artist. For example, my 2020 list included “paint a mural” and “paint a wedding”. At this juncture, I hoped that art would get busy enough that I could cut back on my nursing hours so I could spend a little more time with my family.
One fateful weekend in 2020 I actually got the opportunity to paint at a wedding. I had a wonderful time with the whole experience, and I remember thinking “I could get used to this”. Not even a month later, I answered a random instagram message from a girl name Chloe. Chloe was an artist in South Carolina and she had a dream of putting together a team of wedding/event artists across the country. When she asked me to be a part of the team, I said yes, but I didn’t think anything would come of it. From my perspective: I was a nobody nurse/mom in Saint Louis, and I felt like an art career was impractical and too good to be true.
Within 6 months of saying yes to live event painting, the art opportunities were pouring in from every direction across the country. I was overwhelmed and working overtime trying to accommodate a nursing career, an art career, client meetings, and my own family. Something had to give, and in November of 2021, I made the decision to step away from the medical field and pursue art full time. Not to hyper spiritualize this journey, but soon as I said yes to art, it felt like God was saying “Well it’s about time. Now let’s get to work”.
I believe where much is given, much is required, and I’ve approached my creative life from that lens. During the week days, I work on individual commissions, and maintain a flexible schedule to maximize time with my family. I volunteer with an organization in the city called Love The Lou, and I’m currently painting a massive gymnasium mural. Weekly client commissions include portrait paintings, digital designs, watercolors, murals, and even some mixed media projects.. I love any opportunity to collaborate with clients to make their creative vision come to life. I take online art courses, and am constantly pushing myself by learning from master artists in all mediums.
My weekends are far more glamorous working in the wedding world. I travel around the country, and create acrylic paintings capturing a moment during a couple’s wedding day. I strive to make each painting my best one yet, and I love meeting people and making their day even more memorable.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There’s a song lyric by Mumford and Sons that says “where you invest your love, you invest your life”, and I hold to that sentiment. I’m a follower of Jesus, and I believe that God gifted me with creativity and a heart for people (hence the nurse turned artist career path). I want to use my art, and my love of art to draw people’s attention to something outside of themselves. I’ve painted murals in the hood, and I’ve painted weddings in the high-rise, and the general response and awe of the art that I’m creating is the same. Art is intrinsic to living. Art unites us all.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

A few years ago, when I told people that nursing was my career, the response was the same: respect and sometimes awe because they knew the experience and demand of that particular career path. Now, when I tell people that I’m an artist, the response is polarizing. It’s usually “how nice that you have a hobby that you love, but what do you REALLY do?” I think society needs to stop viewing art as a side hustle, or an elective. Yes, art is subjective, but that means an Artist has to work hard to EARN respect from the general public (especially from other artists). Companies and clients need to value artists’ time, materials, and experience, and trust them to create within their scope of practice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cloudstudioagency.com/our-artists/elysia-king
• Instagram: Byelysiaking
• Facebook: Elysia King Art

Image Credits
Headshot Credits: -Lilly Strickland -Heather Rouggly Photography -Live wedding Paintings in association with Cloudstudioagency.com -Mural shots: Elysia King