Creative Community: Ellie Cupp
How Midwest Nice helped a young artist build a full time business
Ellie Cupp walked into a Hobby Lobby last week to restock her art supplies. She walked out having mentored a young woman towards her artistic dreams.
The cashier asked Ellie, a 21-year-old visual artist based in the Quad Cities, what project she needed so much paint for. Ellie explained she owns her own art business and she was gearing up for market season.
“You could see the wheels turning, like she didn’t realize you could do that,” Ellie said.
Ellie talked with the cashier, who said she loves to draw, about her own artistic dreams, encouraged her to reach out on Instagram with any questions about owning and operating an art business. Ellie was glad to help, a sort of “if I can do it so can you” ethos.
You couldn’t write a more “Midwest Nice” scene if you tried. But as a full time artist at only 21, Ellie knows how a little Midwest Nice can go a long way in helping a young artist realize their creative dreams.
“The attitude from people in the Midwest is so kind and I think they're just excited for me,” said Ellie. “The people in Southern Illinois and Iowa — they’re my people.”
The Journey to Perspective
Ellie didn’t have too many creative dreams growing up. She’s only taken one art class in her life. And she hated it.
“They told me, ‘you have to learn this thing and then you have to learn this thing in order to do this,’” explained Ellie. “I was just being pushed into a box and it was not how I wanted to create.”
She had dabbled in drawing for much of her life, but it never developed much past a casual hobby. She had friends who were talented artists who seemed more connected to an artistic identity and direction. She hadn’t yet explored her own stylistic tendencies, her own perspective.
“Somebody told me the other day that they have a whole wall of just my art. And I'm like, you have to be lying. That's so crazy.”
She’d get to explore what place art might have in her life when Covid closed down her school. In the midst of her boredom, she asked her grandpa for his extra paint. She took inspiration from a recent trip to Colorado and started painting a mountain scene.
She described the moment she realized she had something special:
“I started with the color blocks. I was inspired by the Mid-Century Modern palates of other artists so I incorporated those colors. Then I knew it needed some kind of movement, so I added the black wavy lines. The white wavy lines came to me in sort of a lightbulb moment, and my parents and I immediately realized this was something I could sell.”
Ellie has since built a business selling her original art, prints, and stickers. She quit her job managing a skateboard store and has supported herself fulltime for three years. She barely imagined herself as a professional artist, let alone operating a full-time artistic business before she could legally drink alcohol. She’s sheepish when she talks about her work, tip-toeing into the realm of owning her talent.
“Somebody told me the other day that they have a whole wall of just my art. And I'm like, you have to be lying. That's so crazy.”
Defining an Artist’s Mindset
Ellie describes herself as having a mindset around art that differs from her peers. She feels less pressure around the act of creating, less anxiety around accolades.
“Some people will talk about their art like, ‘this took me two years to paint and I poured my heart and soul into it,’” she said. “For me, I paint things because it’s fun and I like it.”
She recently began entering into juried art shows, venturing to markets in bigger territories, like Chicago. While she’s enjoying putting herself out there, she’s found these scenes to be more cutthroat than she prefers.
“Everyone deserves to buy art.”
Rules, judges, intensity around the work…it’s not so much for her. What she loves is the accessibility of art in smaller communities. The connections she’s able to make at markets in Davenport, Geneseo, Tipton.
“People are so nice and excited for me here. They just love that I’m able to do this as my full time thing,” she said. “I love selling art to hang in someone’s home, and getting to talk to them about it. I love that people can go buy art and it’s not this massive decision, or they can even just buy a sticker. Everyone deserves to buy art.”
People can now recognize Ellie’s art before seeing the name on her booth. She’s developed a style, a palate, a community of art lovers who just want to see her thrive.
Not long ago, Ellie felt inconsistency was keeping her from becoming a “true artist.” But once she shed the ideas of what an artist “should be,” she started leaning into the artist she could be.
And she discovered the artist she could be is someone who just wants to make the Midwest a little more colorful.
“I’ve created meaningful pieces, but I truly making art because it’s fun for me,” Ellie said. “I don’t classify my art into a genre. I believe you should be able to just make art because you like it.”
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Love to see this young QC artist profiled! I love her work, and have 5 or 6 of her pieces on my walls! 😀
Cheers from your fellow IWC member!
Thank you for telling us about Ellie, Macey. She is a very talented young lady.