We recently connected with Ellen Jean Diederich and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ellen Jean thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your creative career?

What helped me from the most from the beginning is protecting my painting time. After 5 years of college (I have a B.F.A. in Fine Art) there was much to be learned about painting and business to make me marketable. This was gradual and continuous. Both were worked on. In fact, it took me a year to develop a routine that worked.
It takes considerable discipline to get to your studio every day, especially when you are new. It can be quite depressing when you try a variety of ideas over and over and fail, however, it is really helpful to develop a sense of rejection for what doesn’t work. I did this with a positive attitude. In wire bound notebooks, the most helpful thing was to put the (usual 6 paintings being worked on) out in front of me, get myself a cup of copy and write down what I liked and what needed to be worked on. Then I would pick up the piece that I had made definite decision to act on and proceed. When personal life had me distracted, I would journal about that too so I could focus on my work.

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.

It was a two great highschool teachers who became professional artists who got me into painting. Rose Edin from Staples, MN asked me to be in her painting for gifted students class. Russel Norberg, got me facinated with watercolor and taught me the basics. These two were always there to answer questions. In highschool, I was very shy and art was the one thing I gained confidence in.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

It seems the goal to always to explore a new painting idea gave me resilience to keep going. I had many failures. . In 1990 – 1995 my paintings started selling like crazy, they started winning all sort and my style came forward. It was all going so well that I suddenly was afraid to change and tried to stay the change. Eventually it got so I started wrecking the most promising starts. The fear of being less successful was on my mind.

At that point, I called crying to a favorite teacher and told her what was happening, She said, “Ellen, just go out and paint some little paintings from life and you will get it back.” So I started painting some little paintings from life with no goal for them and they started looking pretty good until I got excited about them and started fixing them up so they would sell. That was totally devestating.

So finally I decided I would do some little paintings “just for me”. I also started drawing sketches “just for me”. There was to be be no goal, but I learned, and got excited and pulled out of my slump. In my book, “Progressive Painting – Your Creative Journey” I wrote out the little ceremonies I used that got me out of myself and into my art.

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

I think art organizations are extremely supportive for artists and creatives. You learn to help others and yourself and get opportunities you would never have on your own. To do that you have to get involved though. I met many artists whol helped me and learned more about buisness. I saw many artists have issues that we could help them together with, and it made me much more concience of how my actions affect others. I also saw many artists miss out big time by not being active.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.givinity.com and www. EllenJeanDiederich.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenjeandiederich/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellen.diederich
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-jean-diederich/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EJDstudio @EJDStudio
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ellenjeandiederichstudio8614
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/ejdstudio/