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Over the past few months My Wonderful Walls has been sourcing new artists to partner with in order to expand and diversify our wall stickers for kids and grown-ups. One of the downfalls of running a business and being an artist, Michael can tell you, is you only have so much time to be creative. But one of the great things about this is finding artists from all over the country and the world who have a passion for art education and art like he and Stephanie do. It has also allowed us to add all kinds of art to our wall decal collections that we otherwise couldn’t offer.
Elise Mahan is one of these artists and brings an appreciation for geometry, astronomy and history to her work. Her paintings draw on ethereal and surreal elements that utilize and explore repetition, geometry, texture and pattern. We were lucky enough to be able to choose about 30 of her pieces to use as wall sticker designs. These astronomy and nature inspired wall decals have been very popular and are wonderful for children and adults alike.
You can choose from such designs as the celestial Hidden in the Madrone Forest Wall Sticker with red barked trees against a beautiful blue sky or the fantastical Beluga Migration Wall Decal featuring four beluga whales migrating through a blue starry night sky while pulling a bit of the Earth along with them. The Elise Mahan Wall Stickers come in a variety of shapes and sizes perfect for many rooms in your home, office or school.
We thought it would be fun to learn a little more about Elise and her art:
My Wonderful Walls: Where were you born?
Elise Mahan: I was born in Phoenix,AZ
MWW: Where do you currently live now?
EM: Oakland, CA
MWW: Were you always interested in art? How and when did you begin?
EM: I started painting and drawing as a kid, and I never stopped.
MWW: When did it turn professional?
EM: I quit my job as a museum arts educator about 6 months ago when my artwork started pulling in more income than my day job.
MWW: Did you go to school to study art/graphic art?
EM: I studied art history at Mills College and San Francisco State, and am admittedly mostly self-taught as a painter with a few visual art classes here and there.
MWW: What inspires your art?
EM: Everything, I look to all the amazing places in my city. I also look to landscape and environment across the planet as my inspiration.
MWW: What medium(s) do you prefer?
EM: I paint with gouache, watercolor, metallic inks, walnut ink, and I usually work on top of that with archival pen.
MWW: What are your favorite things to draw/create?
EM: It changes a lot but right now, I am fascinated with the landscape of Patagonia and the arctic.
MWW: What is your favorite My Wonderful Walls wall sticker you have been involved with creating?
EM: I really like the harvest moon sticker that was created by My Wonderful Walls.
MWW: Tell us about your artistic environment.
EM: I do my artwork in a live/work studio that I share with my fiancée in East Oakland. It can be a chaotic urban environment, so I try to create a calm studio filled with plants, sculptures, a growing collection of artwork from local artists, terrariums, bonsai, globes and maps.
MWW: What is the best time for you to create?
EM: I work best in the morning with a good cup of dark roast coffee by my side, and usually a cat in my lap.
MWW: What are some of your other interests?
EM: I adore reading, writing, gardening and running. I love building terrariums. My partner is teaching me to sculpt. I teach art to kids at a local non-profit.
MWW: Is anyone else in your family an artist?
EM: My grandmother was an artist, and so is my mother.
MWW: Do you live solely off your art or do you have another job/career?
EM: I teach art part time at a non-profit in Oakland called Children’s Fairyland, and the rest of the time I get to make art.
MWW: Do you have a favorite piece of work you’ve done? If so, what?
EM: Right now I am working on a large-scale painting that might be a favorite, I haven’t even gotten it photographed yet, but it’s called Odessa and the ethereal universe.
MWW: How did you get involved with My Wonderful Walls?
EM: They found my Etsy shop and contacted me about being a featured artist. They were so lovely and kind I decided to join them.
If you’d like to see more of what Elise is working on, check out her website Elise Mahan Visual Art or follow her on Instagram. And if you’re a huge fan of the new Elise Mahan Wall Sticker Collection, make sure you visit our blog or Facebook page starting next week for a great giveaway to win one of your own!
Blog post written by Tara.
