Meet Wendy

Wendy Ellertson grew up in San Francisco, Chicago and Cleveland. Although she has lived most of her adult life in Boston, she has never lost her deep connection to the Pacific Ocean and the redwoods of Northern California. She has been an active member of the fine craft community as a mixed media and leather artisan for over forty years. As a Board Member of the Interstitial Arts Foundation, she relishes encouraging border crossing art.

The Winter '07-'08 issue of Art Doll Quarterly contains an 8 page "doll artist profile" on Wendy, her work and philosophy. (See pdf of article attached here.)

Personal Statement:
From whence come my mythic figures and other art work?

These are questions which I have long mulled over. Joseph Campbell explains that one of the roles of the artist is “the mythologization of the world and the environment”. I am pretty sure I have been doing that all my life. The following experiences also appear to have contributed to my fascination with myth, storytelling, and flight.

• A childhood surrounded by a wild and eclectic collection of modern, primitive, and folk art; early introduction to incredible museums in Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and New York; childhood friendships with gallery owners in Chicago; a good dose of Dr. Seuss and Carl Sandburg’s Rootbaga Stories ;a dad who was a great storyteller; and parents who always encouraged us to stretch our imaginations.
• A crucial first art trade at age 10: a painting for a few fantasy figures with painter Robert J. Lee, beginning a mentor and friend relationship which continued for over 40 years.
• Nine months in Europe during college, studying in France and traveling to Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and England...developing a special attachment to gargoyles.
• A wise grandfather and loving grandmother who lived into their nineties, helping all of us to understand the necessity of a good sense of humor and the importance of not taking oneself or life too seriously!
• Graduate school, where I wrote a thesis on West African Theater in French!
• Living in a predominately minority inner city community for the past 39 years where family and personal ties are valued intensely, learning to share and reach out at Boston’s Children’s Hospital during multiple hospitalizations with our children ..and participating in a Unitarian Universalist urban church community where outrage at injustice and international perspective are fostered.
• A brother who went from acting to having a punk boutique to being a costume designer in London. His fantasy figures challenged mine and vise versa...being present when he died of AIDS was a pivotal experience.
• Over forty years in the craft community, first as a potter, then as a soft sculpture artist, then leather clothing, sculpture and books...but always with figures present. Every show encouraged me to push further.
• Feeling a strong affinity with Brian Froud and wondering what his sources of inspiration were. Why didn't my creatures tell me their relatives would be frolicking in the Dark Crystal? Finally meeting Brian, Wendy and Toby Froud at the Mythic Journey's Conference in Atlanta, June 06!
• A supportive and challenging husband and four children imbued with great energy and imagination and. now three sons-in-laws, from Missouri, Michigan and Cuenca, Ecuador, and two granddaughters and a grandson!

So there you have it: Mexican serapes; Picasso, Michelangelo; David Smith; African masks; Bosch; Dr. Seuss; Robert J. Lee; the Alhambra; gargoyles; Portobello Street; dolls by Barbara Newman; the Names Quilt Project; Dorothy Liebes; New Orleans Jazz; Carl Sandburg; e.e.cummings, peace demonstrations, bus rides and snorkeling in Ecuador; rafting in the Bald Eagle preserve in Alaska with my mother and aunt in their 80's, a lot of flying in my dreams. And finally, a strong belief that as artists we have an obligation to open ourselves to help circle back some of the creative energy that has been lost to the world, to share it and encourage the creativity of others.