We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ellen Schaefer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ellen below.
Alright, Ellen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
While it always feels incredibly significant to be a part of bringing the visions of others to life through my commissioned artworks, my recent series of birth flower paintings is one of my most personally meaningful projects.
I created this collection of 12 original watercolor paintings based on the birth flowers associated with each month of the year. Initially, I painted 12 line-drawn gouache artworks with this theme. However, the gouache pieces did not feel right, so I waited and held onto the idea for several more months. When I was in my third trimester of pregnancy with my daughter, after finishing up the last of my custom work prior to my scheduled maternity break, I returned to the idea of painting the birth flowers again. This time, I used watercolor to carefully paint the 12 flowers. This project continued following the birth of my daughter, Opal. I completed it when she was 1 month old, turning the paintings into fine art prints, and released the prints on my website when she was 2 months old. The original paintings are now displayed above my daughter’s crib in her room.
Not only did this project carry me through my first pregnancy, birth, and post-partum period, but each flower holds its own rich history and meaning. When I package each fine art print for its new home, I include the flower’s symbolism. Because each flower innately carries symbolism and correlates to a month of the year, each print feels like its significance carries far beyond my own project and extends to each customer who purchases it. It feels so fulfilling to watch this art, that has so much personal significance, be imbued with meaning over and over again as it is shared with others.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a visual artist based in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I collaborate with clients to create custom pieces of artwork ranging from portraits, to wedding invitations, to wall murals. While I primarily work with watercolor at the moment, I love experimenting with different mediums, such as acrylic paints and ceramics. In addition to custom work, I also offer fine art prints, fun paper goods, and thoughtful original art.
I have created things ever since I can remember. (My mom still has the children’s books I wrote and illustrated in first grade titled “Pound Puppy 1 [2, and 3].”) I pursued artistic endeavors from grade school into college, where I received a minor in Fine Art. Upon graduating from college in 2016, I worked as an occupational therapist while nurturing my art practice and small side business.
As my art and business have evolved, I have been fortunate to work with many clients to capture their special memories or bring their artistic visions to life. Creating portraits of someone’s beloved pet, wedding day, or childhood home feels like such an honor to me. I want my work to encourage mindfulness and joy, while reflecting the beauty of fleeting moments.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Painting custom portraits that carry the significance of highly sentimental relationships with people, places, or things is incredibly rewarding. I am often asked to celebrate the life of a pet or family member with a portrait after their passing. When someone loves someone or something so much, and they trust me enough to create a piece of art capturing that person or thing, I feel a profound sense of trust. Sometimes it makes me very emotional!
As an artist, I am always trying to capture feelings and moments that seem to slip through our fingers. I want to extend those feelings and preserve those moments for just a little bit longer. When I can paint something that connects with another person in that way, whether it be via custom or original work, I feel like my work has achieved a key purpose.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Creating and putting art into the world has felt intricately tied to my own experience with self-worth. Working alone as an artist, that inner-critical voice can be quite loud. It may tell you things like: your work is not good enough, you are not doing enough, who are you to be calling yourself an artist. When I was a child, I had a strong perfectionistic tendency, so I think that these kind of thoughts circulated in my head frequently.
As I have nurtured my creative practice and business, I have had to let go of the stories of my inner critic that I was once convinced were true. I had to unlearn listening to that negative self-talk. I had to replace it with more positive narratives, such as: I trust my work and my decisions, my work is valuable, my work brings joy to myself and others. This is a continual process and something I am still working on. If you experience self-doubt, you are not alone. I think it is just part of being human. Affirmations and mediation help, but I also think continually immersing myself in the creative process builds bravery and confidence to let go of my inner-critical voice when it comes up.
Contact Info:
- Website:www.ellenschaeferart.com
- Instagram: @ellenschaeferart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EllenSchaeferArt
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenschaeferart/
Image Credits
Photography by: Ellen Schaefer and TJ Schaefer