We recently connected with Ellen Walker and have shared our conversation below.
Ellen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
There have been many days I think about what it would be like to just have a “regular” job. I think this comes up most often when my business is in a slow season financially or my work has begun to feel uninspired. I do my best to take those moments as a chance to shift and realign.
I love working for myself and having autonomy and creative freedom. In my early years of adulthood I worked jobs that did not feed my artist soul or have much creativity. A lot of my mental space during those jobs was taken up by what art project I wanted to do when I got home, what product I wanted to create and market, and how I could create a doorway out of this job and into something I could craft for myself.
I heard someone put it this way: every job is hard you have to choose what kind of hard you’re willing to do. I go back to that and every time I can honestly say that I’m willing and able to do the hard part of my job as a creative entrepreneur. That being said, being an artist brings me so much joy! It’s a magnetic kind of happiness that comes with alignment of purpose for me. I truly believe I was born to create and make my way through the world in a way that’s all my own. The pull of purpose matched with the joy of creating is what brings me back on the most doubtful days.
Ellen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I live where the foothills meet the sierras in Northern California. I’m a Taurus sun, Leo moon, Projector. I’m an outdoor adventurer, fantasy nerd, horse girl. I went to college for Art with emphasis in education, thinking I’d follow in my parents footsteps and become a teacher. After some experience in the classroom I realized it wasn’t the perfect fit for me.
I ran an Etsy shop for a bit and then together with my mom began to explore creative event and market planning, We brought together local makers for several curated markets and loved the sense of community that came with it. This passion evolved into me opening a small retail space where I curated goods from local makers and hosted events and creative workshops. It was an amazing experience and opportunity. Due to overhead costs and COVID-19 I eventually closed the shop space and began to morph my passion for makers and creative small businesses by offering logo designs.
For a little over two years now my bread and butter offering has been illustrative brand design for small business. Ellen Walker Design really feels like a beautiful marriage of my creative freedom and supporting other makers. I love storytelling through intentional design, and empowering my clients through handcrafted visuals that are as much strategic as they are beautiful. I enjoy offering additional services like bandana designs that further extend my abilities as an illustrator. My total creative freedom runs wild in my shop offerings— a running selection of illustrative and collage Giclee prints, original artworks, and, recently, ceramics! The newest branch of Ellen Walker Design is my Patreon which is a vulnerable magical extension of my existing work as an artist and designer. On my Patreon you’ll find the intersection of my artwork, spirituality, storytelling and creative community. At times I feel the pressure to “niche” down as an entrepreneur but I’ve found my strengths lie in the kaleidoscope of my creative expressions and offerings. I feel confident in the work I’m doing now and at the same time open to every new evolution ahead.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I wish I hadn’t been so afraid to ask questions from other creatives. I think there certainly is some gate keeping in the art world but most of the time people are happy to pay it forward and give the little guy some insight. I think it’s also important to settle into the process of trial and error. Looking back I wish I could tell myself that I still don’t have much figured out and every mistake has been a teacher. I think a huge resource I missed out on early on was not getting client feedback. As scary as it is it has been so helpful to me now that I do it regularly.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
As a visual artist I’ve found that the biggest ways I’ve grown my audience is sharing lots of work and sharing myself. As much as social media is changing I’ve found that people really don’t need it fancied up as much as we think. They want to see what I’m working on and hear my story behind it. They also want to feel connected and I think this happens a couple of ways: they see you’re a real relatable human, they resonate with the story of the work, or they find your through someone they love and trust. A lot of new clients find me through past clients and it always gets me exited to connect in that organic way. I think if you’re just starting to build your online presence just try to bring as much of your genuine energy and creative magic forward and the right people will find you. Social media is just a tool, don’t get caught up in the flashiness, just show up as you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ellenwalker-design.com/
- Instagram: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwivl4_Q0YL9AhXTIUQIHXCoDWcQFnoECC0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.instagram.com%2Fellen_walker_design%2F%3Fhl%3Den&usg=AOvVaw2omTOIbBfYx5K7_de_3-pi
- Other: https://patreon.com/ellenwalker?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=join_link
Image Credits
Photos by Sarah Bennett Photography