We were lucky to catch up with Elias Ramos recently and have shared our conversation below.

Elias, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I think this is the most important question here because it really is the question that drives my passion.

I have goals and personal missions that I aim to achieve through my creative path, so I would like to say that I have not “made it” as an creative professional, yet. I am very devoted to my creative practice and it is the core of my being, but my art is not the primary source of income for me (quite yet). However, I do consider myself a happy, successful artist in the rewards I have reaped through my discipline and consistency.

My creative process makes me happy by bringing me joy and purpose in a way that fills me with gratitude. I am happy that the creative life chose me; It drives me forward like no other thing can. It helps me see the world and my whole life through the eyes of a painter/creative. What I mean by this is not like I walk around constantly looking frantically for something that would make a great painting, but instead seeing everything as a painting waiting to happen. That mindset and perspective shift is what brings me happiness as an artist.

Being that I still am working day-to-day jobs to pay the bills (like most creatives), I do sometimes wonder what it would be like to have chosen a “regular” path that guaranteed income or financial abundance. I never regret choosing the path of the artist because of the way it feeds my soul and spirit (even if it doesn’t always feed my stomach). It drives me and calls to me. Even at my lowest points or on days that I am super exhausted to the point of collapse, I will still find myself creating late at night into the morning. Because I have to!

Elias, 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 have loved to draw ever since I was very young. I would draw my favorite super heroes constantly and my action figures fighting each other. As a kid (and even now) I loved cartoons and anime for its super vivid colors and stories. I would always draw for my school projects and throughout the day and realized that even then it drove me. I didn’t even realize how much it meant to me until tragedy had struck me at a young age and I found myself using it to cope. In Junior year of high school I decided to lean into it and joined a Youth Art program called AS220 in Downtown Providence.

I think here was the first time I really felt like an artist/ “art kid”. They gave us cardboard portfolios and there were classes we could take from dope art adults that were really intrinsically good souls. I took classes in their Visual Arts program and did very well. This was the first time I heard it was even possible to pursue a career as an artist and my mind was absolutely blown. My parents were a little scared, but I went on to study Studio Art and English/ World Literature in New York City at Marymount Manhattan College.

At first, the English/World Literature Double Major was to have a back up and satisfy my parents, but the ways the study of Literature informed my study of Art (and vice versa) made College such an unique experience that formed me into the artist I am today. The discipline required from both fields and the open mindedness and diligence required to succeed in both continues to serve me now. Artistically, at Marymount, I made a huge shift from only focusing on drawing to being a classically trained painter.

As a creative, I paint mostly in oil and/or watercolor/gouache. My best subject matter is probably portraiture (especially in oil). It is mostly because I had been so fascinated with drawing people from the very beginning. At first, it was the place that was the most rich in inspiration for me. I love people: their nuance, their uniqueness, their individuality, their “vibe”, their character, etc. It is such a beautiful process and challenge to set out and translate all of that onto a 2D canvas and have it feel “true”. Even more fascinating is when I moved from portraiture into more figurative narrative based paintings (probably because of my study of so many stories in EWL). Then I became fascinated with the stories people could tell and what it would look like in a painting.

I left New York and found myself stuck creatively. I still did a commission or two when asked, but I did not cultivate a consistent creative practice again until the Pandemic. I hit a defining moment and decided that from now on I would only create simply because I wanted to, and that the act of painting was enough of a reason for me to paint. Not creating because I wanted it to sell or hang in a gallery or someone’s house but because I would hang it or want it. I created so much that year, and that act itself caused a wave of so many artistic opportunities. It was like striking oil. All of the inspiration I had been waiting for was building beneath the surface and the second I put my brush to canvas it burst. Making that decision was a show of faith in myself and ever since then I have stayed consistent and driven.

What I am most proud of is my ability to communicate and deliver ideas. When clients come to me with an idea they think is far fetched or random I am happy to work with them and collaborate until we are both happy with the results. Even more so, I love my ability to deliver my own ideas and perspective.

What sets my work apart is my use of vibrant color, brush work, and mark-making. More than any of that, is my diligence and the way that I creatively problem solve to deliver a visual idea. Outside of making a good artwork, I hope that viewers of my work feel a moment of complete presence and/or that it invokes a moment of peace within them in the second it takes to view a work.

I have worked and pushed my creative range to encompass anything and everything that inspires me: from beautiful landscapes and cityscapes, to people, pets, and flowers. I love showing beauty in mundane things and moments not because I am putting it there, but because I am calling attention to what is always there. I take on a variety of subject matter partially following what inspires and calls my attention but also to challenge myself and constantly push myself to paint different things that come with different challenges.

My most recent creative escapade has been trying my hand at animation. It has been so humbling to go back to fundamentals and learn something from the ground up. Also, animation as a medium is laborious in a way that is very different than any other medium I have ever worked with. It is not just one drawing or painting, but thousands of them! It has forced me out of my comfort zone and required I work everything in my tool box to figure out how to draw/paint moments in time and thread them together. It is art in motion.

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

The main goal/mission that drives my creative journey is the idea that there is beauty in everything. It may sound a bit cheesy or cliché and it is not always easy to remember or remind yourself in tough times, but it is what drives every part of my creative process.

Yes, of course I want the end product of each painting process to be beautiful, but the process itself is a mindful practice for me. My creative process brings me back into the present moment and helps me find beauty in all of it: the subject or moment I’m painting, the act of painting itself, the gratitude for my craft, and even the stress I may be dealing with at the time. All of it has beauty and my creative journey is in devotion to that beauty.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

A book I think everybody should read is the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It is a really good book for creatives especially but really for anybody with a dream. It is a very short read with simple language, but it is a concentrated dose of wisdom full of gems for anybody setting out on a journey of the self and in pursuit of their dream.

I can loosely recommend a Podcast I got pretty far into (then fell off of) called the Creative Endeavor. The host is a phenomenal artist who interviews other artists/creative professionals. It is really cool to hear two creatives talk about the ups and downs of the creative profession and their own personal ideas about things. It is a good way to get real insight from professionals in the field and also get exposed to some really good artists you may not have found otherwise. My only disclaimer is that keep in mind that not every episode may be your favorite since every artist getting interviewed is a person with very different and unique mindsets that may not align with your own, but there are definitely episodes that will! So just skip around if necessary, and it’s on Spotify.

Philosophically I listen to a lot of Mindfulness podcasts which I can also recommend to those who may find it helpful. The best one is called Ram Dass Here and Now. It is a collection of wonderful old speeches by a spiritual teacher named Ram Dass. It really is sage wisdom about how to handle a variety of topics or just talking in general. He is funny, clever, and very animated in a way that delivers the wisdom in a very matter-of-fact way. A good friend of Ram Dass, named Jack Kornfield, also has a podcast called Heart Wisdom which is similar and a much larger catalogue since he is still living and recording. Both are good podcasts that help with mindfulness and the importance of being present. Similarly, you can choose episodes according to titles that interest you to dip your toe. Also on Spotify!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Eliasramosartist