We were lucky to catch up with Elena mary Siff recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elena mary, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I always knew I would be an artist as I grew up in a home full of art, books and music and was always encouraged to be creative. .As an only child I received a lot of attention . I was very lucky. I pursued a career in visual art and eventually went to UCLA to study film and TV production. I was not cut out to work with many people….and film production is a team effort so I went back to the peace and quiet of my art studio. and over the years created unique books,. handmade paper, assemblages. collages and installations. Also taught book making and paper making through various venues for many years, As I have become older I decided to try working in a different medium and found that fused glass fascinated me so for the last 2 years I have been working only with glass and now have enough to fill an entire store since it has been difficult to find a venue to sell my glass art. Friends seem to love it but i don’t have the commercial connections i need to sell it. I will continue to work at finding a venue. The other 1/2 of my life is working for my adult son, Noah Erenberg, who is a professional artist…He needs a lot of support as he is on the autism spectrum and cannot do the business of art through he a dynamite painter. He has exhibited his work in many venues in Europe and the USA and will have a solo show in August 2024 at the Cruise Control Gallery in Cambria, CA, His work is included in the ARTLIFTING collection, out of Boston where he sells a great deal of his work to corporate collections. like Bank of America, and Google,

Elena mary, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I would like to have my glass creations seen: plates, bowls, wind chimes, jewelry, sun catchers and wall hung glass art, Currently it is on view in my Santa Monica studio where it can be seen by appointment. I welcome visitors. I am a co-founder of WOMEN/BEYOND BORDERS, a remarkable international exhibition of work by 100s of women from many countries…This exhibition traveled to these countries for years and is now permanently in the UC Santa Barbara Art Museum’s collection on view for all to see.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I simply cannot stop creating even though I have a hard time marketing my production. .I wish I had taken a course in the business of art. I tried to work with an on-line business like ETSY but last year I had my identity stolen through ETSY so I had no choice but to leave on line sales which I warn you can be very dangerous. I sold on ETSY for about 20 years and did well there until this happened….It was hard to leave. I cannot imagine not having a project to work on so I will continue exploring new materials and methods and always hoping a new door will open.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

as I mentioned previously I gave up my social media presence last year after my identity was stolen through ETSY. Identity theft is more common all the time these days and is very frightening and costly. It is a real shame as on line sales should be a lucrative option for artists and for 20 years I did well there until this happened and now never again. My advice to those just getting on social media is to tread very slowly and carefully and beware!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/elenasiff/
• Facebook: facebook.com/ElenaMarySiff
• Other: elenamarysiff.blogspot.com

Image Credits
Elena Mary Siff