Annieglass artist/owner Annie Morhauser got to sit down with Ellen Brook, the talented Bay Area artist and limited edition apparel designer, as she prepared for her first trunk show at Annieglass Santana Row to be held on Saturday October 24th from 2:00-6:00pm. Ellen Brook will be bringing her new body of work: silk scarves, ponchos and shawls all based on her original hand-painted fabric designs, and Annie couldn’t wait to talk with her!
A: It is a pleasure to get to know your creative process, Ellen. I love the way you embrace playfulness and risk at the same time when you approach a pure white piece of silk with nothing but a brush and a cup of dye…that’s not true…AND your wonderful mind. You have got to be fearless to do that over and over again. I would be petrified of ruining it and I know I am not alone in saying it!
Your painting is just through-the-roof-beautiful, your colorations are like poetry the way they meld into one another and your attention to detail is perfect. I love the way you finish the ponchos—I will ask you again about that—and have my eye on a few items you will be bringing for the trunk show, including the infinity silk scarf—it’s almost alive!
Before I get into the interview, let’s set a little background.
I first saw Ellen’s clothing and hand painted silk at the Fashion Art Santa Cruz show several years back and I was moved by her paintings on silk—it was a new type of clothing that moved with the body yet was also a painting, and I loved it. Ellen kept improving at subsequent shows getting edgier and sexier clothing silhouettes. She knew how to make the silk shimmer when a woman walked. She kept pushing to be better and I have much respect for anyone who does that.
A: What drives you?
E: I’m driven by the desire to create beauty. It may sound cliché, but there’s so much darkness and negativity in the world that we need all the light and good energy that we can get. I hope my work lets in just a bit more light. There is nothing more rewarding than hearing that my artwork has touched someone – whether they are wearing my clothing or seeing my art in the form of my paintings, hangings or pillows.
On a hike I took recently, these words came to me — “presencing oneself (becoming present) through seeing or feeling beauty is a source of joy.” I feel inspired by that possibility.
A: Aren’t you scared at first? The way you work with watercolor there is no going back!
E: You nailed it. Sometimes I’m terrified and have a hard time getting started! I feel like I have nothing to fall back on except my own creativity. It’s hard to know whether I’ll make another piece as exciting or color-charged or dreamy as the last. I paint past the point of no return sometimes because I find that if I don’t take the risk I’ll never know what might have been.
A: Tell me about that process of letting go the way you do when working. How do you prepare yourself? You must have to be so careful yet the intensity and your energy shows through so well. Are you flinging paint at some point ever?
E: Working on silk is challenging because as you said, there is no going back. I’ve lost a lot of paintings because the colors get muddy or something just didn’t work and there’s no graceful way to re-invent it. But by pushing myself I’ve also arrived at compositions and color combinations that just knock me out. That wouldn’t have happened without a bit of fear. With my spontaneous approach to working on silk, changing one thing often requires risking the whole painting. So then I just have to jump in. Just do it (thanks Nike!). Not overthink it, but let go and explore.
That said, there are times I have a piece in front of me that is so beautiful already, but I know it’s not quite done. I have to walk away. This gives me the time and distance to let go of my attachment to the outcome. Then one of several things happens: either it occurs to me that it’s done, or I get an idea on how to move forward, or I come back with less attachment and fear of loss. It’s a delicate balance and I don’t always get it right.
I’m not exactly flinging the dye but I do sometimes make a dramatic brushstroke that has nothing to do with the piece so that I shake things up and create new possibilities. I have to remind myself that it’s a piece of silk — that it’s an experiment. I may ‘give up’ hours or days or weeks working on a piece that doesn’t come together, but I’ll be ok either way.
A: What motivates you or motivated this new series?
E: This new collection was born out of a desire to reach a wider audience. I’ve taken some of my favorite scarves, wraps and ponchos and had them printed onto sumptuous silks. They represent years of painting that culminates in this new chapter in my story.
A: Does music influence your work? If so, who?
E: I often like to borrow references from songs to name my clothing, like “Baby Come Back” or “It’s My Party.” I’m less directly inspired by music than by a lot of different types of art, everyday beauty from other cultures — like ethnic textiles and gorgeous glass, raku or ceramic objects that have a long history in a community. These objects may have no specific author that comes to mind but I love when the weave or dye or pattern or ‘hand’ breathes a soulful earthiness into an object. I just love that. I feel inspired and awed by objects considered wabi-wabi, which is part of the Japanese aesthetic of imperfection equals beauty. I really try to start and paint from a place of uncertainty and openness and see where it takes me. Asymmetry is awesome. A kind of ‘dreamy earthiness’ makes me happy.
I am personally influenced by the Wisdom Traditions—Eastern philosophies that encourage the development of the mind and consciousness to connect to a more creative and joyful self.
Finally, I love artists who express poetry through painting, especially colorists like Georgia O’Keefe, or Richard Diebenkorn or Mark Rothko. I’m intrigued by craftspeople who create amazing textural, delicious objects from their own hands and imaginations. I’m a huge fan of Chihuly. I feel like glass and silk have so much in common. They are both living and breathing materials that require light to bring them to life. The radiance of both can be astounding. I suspect our work will partner well together!
To meet Ellen Brook and explore her collection of hand-painted, limited edition clothing apparel, make sure you come to the Fall Trunk Show at Annieglass Santana Row, Saturday, October 24th from 2:00 to 6:00pm. Uno de 50 has also sent Annieglass Santana Row a huge array of bold jewelry, all handcrafted in Spain, for the Fall Trunk Show.
See you Saturday!
