Ellie Paisley
Raised through out the country, at a young age Ellie embraced the arts. Attending Arts Magnet Elementary Schools, she developed a love for life on stage. By high school she had received several art awards including the Pennsylvania State Scholastic Art Award for Editorial Illustration. Double majoring in Art and Design in her college career, Ellie began to understand that traditional methods of abstract conceptionalizaton would not satisfy her need to understand and contribute to the world around her - that the most beautiful enlightenment in life does not translate to a classroom or textbook. She began working with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws or NORML at the end of 2011. After being among the youngest volunteers to start their own chapter (Lancaster NORML) she moved to Philadelphia to work as the graphic designer and secretary for the state chapter Philly NORML where she would later accept a position of their board of directors. While maintaining her career as a student, Ellie set off on an epic adventure traveling across the country to music festivals to share her art with the world. Live Painting on stage is where she found her true passion, stuck in a moment where the hardest choice is whether to dance or paint - she knew this is where she needed to be.
After months of traveling, thousands of new found friends, and a few used canvases later at age 20 Ellie took the position of Art Director for her first festival gallery and never stopped pushing the envelop for what live art can be. Ellie founded the Technicolor Carnival at 21, a pending non-profit and art workshop gallery for community and national art efforts hosted out of her giant rainbow circus tent. The goal of the Technicolor Carnival has been to provide supplementary art programs for children who have limited to no access to them in their public schools as well as gallery space for blossoming artists in small communities and around the world. By creating a space where professional artists and teachers can interact with children in search of creative outlets and instruction, Ellie seeks to enrich the culture and direction of a community one individual at a time. The programming provided by the Carnival stands to set an example of how out of creativity and collaboration come knowledge and understanding.
After working under a patron as part of "Thriving Artists" art collective out of Baltimore, Ellie moved to Boulder Colorado with her artistic partner and boyfriend Aaron Brooks. She continues her work as Artistic Director with music festivals around the country with confidence that the future holds great things. In recent months Ellie has worked with Zane Kesey, son of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" author Ken Kesey on collaborative projects that include but are not limited to adding art work to the iconic "Further Bus" as well as live painted for groups like The Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, and been an official painter for the Dead & Co (ft. John Mayer) after parties across the country.
Info
Ellie Paisley
Boulder, CO
elliepaisleyart@gmail.com
IG: @Ellie.Paisley
All images in this template are used with permission from the photographers Germination, Funkadelphia, and Philip Sunkel.
