Spark Spotlight Artist: Elyse Burns

Elyse Burns started Elyse Breanne Design as a personal creative outlet, without a clue that it would change her life in more ways than one. EBD began on her 18th birthday as an Etsy shop offering her original paintings and grew into a stationery and lifestyle brand as she attended college, graduate school, and law school. Building a business while attending law school, Burns began to feel burnt out. To destress, she made an intentional decision to keep creativity a central part of her life through painting and digital art. “Prioritizing creativity in my life made all the difference in staying motivated as I struggled with many demanding responsibilities,” says Burns. “Balancing entrepreneurship while completing law school taught me the value of incorporating art into daily life.”

Now, after choosing my business over a career in law, I strive to help creative-minded people add art to their lives in practical and attainable ways. Not only do I aim to provide my own art on everyday goods, but also develop items ready-made to accessibly express your creativity through coloring, journaling, and painting. “My journey has taught me the value of creativity,” she says. “With a firm belief that art belongs in every day, my greatest hope is to bring more creativity into the lives of each of our customers.”

1. How did you become interested in art?

I’ve always been creative, and as a kid, I loved sewing, knitting, baking, drawing, painting, anything that allowed me to create! I first started painting when I was in high school and started selling my paintings on Etsy beginning on my 18th birthday—I could hardly wait to start and opened my Etsy shop the first day I legally could on my own. From there, I kept up with my Etsy shop through college, grad school, and law school. Then I was able to take my business full-time after I earned my law degree!

2. What is your favorite part or the work you do?

I have two favorite things about my business. First, I love having the time to draw. When I was still in school, I could barely keep up with all of my responsibilities and being creative fell lower on my priority list. Now that it’s my job, I have to do it, and I’m so happy that’s the case! Second, I love that my art connects me to others! For one, my employees are my friends and family and I treasure getting to see them every day. I also love that I can share my work on social media and get feedback and ideas from my followers. As an extravert, it’s beyond rewarding to share what I’ve made with others!

3. Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

I’m definitely most inspired by nature. My favorite thing in the world is a calm, bright, sunny morning, so I love reflecting bright and light colors in my work. Nearly all of my art includes plants, animals, flowers and/or fruit. I am obsessed with organic shapes and concepts because they feel relaxing and approachable to me.

4. What is most important to you in your art?

Ultimately, I want my art to make people feel comfortable and happy. I want it to brighten up the spaces it’s in, which is why I love light and bright color palettes and organic shapes.

5. What do you think makes you different from other artists?

I love developing my distinct personal style and brand. It is extremely important to me that my art is true to me, and I’ve worked hard to hone my style over the past decade. Essential to my style is evenness, balance, color cohesion and movement. 

6. What are some challenges you have faced in your work?

I am, to my core, a perfectionist. This has translated into my work through my attempts to make my pieces perfectly balanced in their elements and colors. Sometimes, that has left me feeling paralyzed in the process of creating a piece. It is hard to finish any single work when I am constantly second-guessing the placement of each added element. I have tried to get over this habit, but I’m still working on it!

7. What are your goals for the future as an artist?

One of my biggest goals is to develop an even more cohesive portfolio of surface pattern designs that utilize every color of the rainbow! Right now, most of my pieces are in warmer tones, and I want to do my best to branch out from that!