Today we’d like to introduce you to Eloise D’Estienne-D’Orves.
Eloise, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was lucky enough to have been born with triple citizenship to three incredibly different and equally beautiful countries, which allowed me to travel and see the world from a very young age. Most importantly it allowed me to see how woman, Latin individuals and other minorities were treated in countries that widely varied in cultures. Growing up in Venezuela with an educator and Latina activist for a mother, I always saw myself as someone who could bring change into this world but I didn’t know exactly how.
However, as I became more comfortable with my artistic skills and realized that it was a valid use of communication, I dove into it. Columbia College Chicago and its incredible faculty and students helped me realize that I could do more than just create for the sake of creating, that through my use of lettering and illustration I could bring attention to issues affecting womxn and other minorities in the country by speaking of self-love and encouraging self-confidence. With my mother being an educator, I also dove into the world of book cover design to try and encourage the younger generations to read more and educate themselves about the literary world as well as the physical one. We are all incredible, wonderful people who can bring beauty into this world, some just need to be reminded of it.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My work is created on an iPad Pro with the use of Procreate and its primarily focused on hand-lettering and slightly use of illustration. They’re simple tools that can easily travel with me wherever I go, my studio is not confined between four walls. To create I need to be surrounded by my main inspiration, humanity. I usually start by people watching at a local coffee shop, eavesdropping on conversations, absorbing the space as I just doodle on the iPad aimlessly. Then I choose a topic of the day, “love yourself” or “you’re a badass” for example, that applies to someone in the room for which I create a template layout and go from there. I want my work to remind people around me that we are powerful, intelligent, beautiful people that can create incredible things for the world.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
I define success as an artist if my entire income came from my work. My time is the most valuable thing in my world and the fact that I have to waste it on a day job when I could be creating pains me terribly. I don’t aim to be rich, not at all. I just want to create work that positively affects this world and the people in it, and I want to dedicate my entire time to doing just that.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can easily see my work on my website or just go to my Instagram @elostrations to get a more personal look into my life and my work. You can support by coming to my events, purchasing my work but most importantly, follow me and message me if you ever want to talk. I welcome communication, I love it actually, do don’t hesitate to write even if it is just to say “hello”.
Contact Info:
- Address: 13 S Hancock St, Madison, Wi
- Website: www.elostrations.com
- Phone: 6085134930
- Email: elostrations@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/elostrations
Image Credit:
Eloise D’Estienne-D’Orves
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