Rising Stars: Meet Elisabeth Strunk

Today we’d like to introduce you to Elisabeth Strunk.

Hi Elisabeth, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Like many artists, I’ve been creative my entire life. I originally started college as a Photojournalism major at Ball State University in Indiana but quickly learned that career wasn’t going to be for me. I knew I loved art but sort of had a common feeling that art wasn’t a realistic career. Luckily, I have very supportive parents, and one weekend while I was visiting home, I was working on a painting when my mom said to me, “Why don’t you teach art?” I thought to myself, “Huh… Why don’t I do that?” So, I changed my major to K-12 Visual Arts Education and immediately knew it was the right decision.

I’ve had a lot of different art education career experiences. I started teaching by completing my student teaching practicum in the heart of the Navajo Nation and after graduating, moved to Phoenix, Arizona where I taught art at a K-8 STEM school. After 2.5 years there, I moved to the outskirts of Indianapolis, Indiana, and taught ceramics, photography, and art history at a high school for another 2.5 years. I then made my way back out West – this time to Aspen, Colorado – where I was the School, Youth, and Family Programs Manager at the Aspen Art Museum for about 3 years.

Throughout all of my time teaching in a classroom and museum, I worked on my art at the same time. I work largely in watercolors and wood burning, sometimes combining the two. I create custom pet portraits and home illustrations for customers, while also creating my art pieces inspired by insects, tattoos, humor, and the natural world.

In the summer of 2021, I was ready for a change and moved to the Front Range of Colorado. I currently have a full-time creative role in the outdoor industry and love it. However, because I do feel so at home teaching art, I found that I truly missed working with people to help them develop their art skills and creativity. I decided to try something new and “out of the box” by trying my hand at teaching independently through various studios in the Denver Metro area. I now teach at a few different workshop/retail spaces, arts and humanity centers, and private lessons. I love building my career as a teaching artist and developing connections in the fantastic art community here!

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think any road comes with some bumps here and there. I would say the biggest struggles for me have been creating my path that strays a bit from a traditional education degree. I always knew that teaching in a typical classroom wasn’t going to be for me. Don’t get me wrong – I loved my time teaching in schools and was so lucky to have supportive administrators in both who let me do my own thing and teach subjects I wanted to teach.

But I think deep down I knew that I wanted more flexibility and creativity in my career as a teaching artist and the public education system only lends itself so far to flexibility and creativity… So figuring out a new direction for teaching art and reimagining (and unlearning) what that looks like to me has posed its challenges, but luckily those challenges have allowed me to grow as an artist, educator, and human.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The mediums that take up most of my time are watercolors and wood burning. I started getting really into watercolors when I taught the medium to my 4th-grade classes in 2013. They learned about different watercolor techniques to make their landscape paintings, and I wanted to make sure I fully understood watercolor techniques to teach them well.

I started practicing on my own to teach the lesson but then continued to hone my craft after that because I loved it so much. One summer (2017, I believe…) I made two paintings that kickstarted selling my work. My parents moved out of their home of 30 years and I created a watercolor illustration of it as a gift for them. Then, my sister’s dog passed away so I painted a portrait of her to give to her. Once photos of those were shared and passed around, people started reaching out to me to buy their own pet portraits and home illustrations and then it kind of just took off from there.

Wood burning came into play when my grandma gave me my grandpa’s old tool he used to wood burn on carvings he made. I started using the tool for fun and experimenting with pieces of wood I bought from craft stores. I incorporate hand-lettering into the majority of paintings I create, so I started trying that on cutting boards and again – it just kind of took off from there. I now wood burn cutting boards, coasters, pet portraits, and home illustrations on pieces of wood, and the list goes on really… I also create pieces that are for myself. I started working on a bug series a couple of years ago that I am continually building up.

I think what sets me apart is my ability to teach my crafts to others in an accessible and fun way. I don’t like the idea of gatekeeping art techniques and skills because creating art is SO beneficial for everyone and why wouldn’t you want to share that?! Over the years, I’ve taught hundreds and hundreds of students and have seen so many positive benefits of arts… People develop more than just art skills – they learn patience if something doesn’t go as planned, how to let go of control if watercolors flow in a different direction than intended, how to sit in silence and create as a form of meditation, and so on. I think that’s what might set me apart as an artist – wanting other people to create the same things as me and helping them learn how to do so.

Honestly, I’m most proud of just putting myself and my work out there. It can feel very uncomfortable and vulnerable to do so, especially when most of the time I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing and figuring it out as I go. But isn’t that the case with most things in life? Ha!

Any big plans?
I have a lot of plans for the future constantly swirling around in my head! Right now my focus is to continue to find my footing in the Front Range arts community by selling at local markets, teaching privately and at studios, and creating as frequently as possible. I recently made a website with options for hosting workshops, children’s classes, and private lessons so my goal is to continue to teach watercolors and wood burning as frequently as possible.

Eventually, I’d love to have my own space to teach and create. I’m big on the concept of “process art” – creating for the joy of creating and not an end product – so I’d like to create a space that focuses on that mission. The options feel endless, so I’m having a lot of fun figuring it all out as I go and trusting my intuition to guide me to the right decisions!

Pricing:

• Watercolor Pet Portraits and Home Illustrations range from $75 to $125
• Workshops range from $75 to $150

Contact Info:

• Website: www.elisabethstrunk.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elisabeth.r.strunk/ 

Image Credits
Josie V. Photography