A sense of cheerfulness pervades Libby Ellis’s lively studio in Vineyard Haven. It could be the colorful designs displayed around the room, or maybe it’s Libby’s own happy-go-lucky attitude radiating.
She points to her artwork and explains the inspiration behind each piece. Most of the designs are for her newest project and business venture – an online boutique that specializes in personalized wall décor. The website, www.libbyellis.com, launched last spring, features three categories: EveryDay, BirthDay, and WeddingDay.
WeddingDay and BirthDay feature colorful signature wall hangings that she customizes to commemorate a couple’s big day, or the birth of a child. The EveryDay section focuses on “art to celebrate the extraordinary in every day,” with Vineyard-inspired themes.
“I love ‘love,’” says Libby enthusiastically. “I love everyday love. I love baby love. And I love wedding love, romantic love. I guess I just start from there because it’s a good, solid place.”
But art wasn’t always the main focus in Libby’s life. She majored in economic geography at the University of California at Berkley, and afterwards began a doctoral program in geography. On a whim, she submitted one of her photographs to a school art contest, and the results changed her life’s path.
“Because I had received the [Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prize in photo-imaging] and the cash prize, all of a sudden I thought, ‘Well, maybe I could make money doing my art.’ And that kind of started the whole creative process for me,” she recalls.
With this impetus, Libby left California for Martha’s Vineyard. A college friend connected her with Michael Donaroma, and she got a job working for his Edgartown nursery. “From a PhD program to digging holes,” Libby laughs. “And I was so happy.”
Libby moved through creative director jobs at design and advertising firms in Marin County and New York City, pursuing further education in art and honing her own style and taste. After moving back to California, she did freelance work for graphic design firms, but focused on art education. She created after-school art enrichment programs for kids, and a summer art camp for teenagers.
“It’s so rewarding to be able to teach,” she says, “and such a privilege to work with kids as they explore their creativity.”
Libby began creating kid-friendly designs. She made growth charts and later licensed them to the online retailer The Land of Nod. These fun, colorful charts quickly became a best-selling item. Libby continues to license out her kids’ designs – playful scenes often populated with animals, dinosaurs, flowers, games, and whimsy – to companies like Oopsy Daisy and Baby Gap. She’s also written and illustrated fifteen books for children.
Though she enjoyed making designs for other companies (including Target, Hallmark, and Whole Foods), Libby didn’t feel much of a connection to her work once the design was completed, because the product was being manufactured elsewhere. That’s when she came up with the idea of making personalized wall décor that she could handcraft herself every time an order came in.
So her new company was born: Libby Ellis | Martha’s Vineyard.
In her second-story studio above EduComp, Libby cuts construction and tissue paper, dries ferns and flowers, carves wood for block printing, and uses light-sensitive paper to create her unique designs.
“Everything I do is by hand because I don’t want it to be perfect. I’m not interested in that,” she explains.
Although she has sample designs up on the website currently, Libby is always open to adding something specific to better fit the recipient’s style, interests, or hobbies. With everything done by hand and made to order, she has no problem adding a theme or embellishment or changing a color scheme.
Libby’s typical process for creating a custom design takes a few weeks. After she puts the components together by hand, she scans the finished piece to send to her printer. The printer transposes the design onto linen-cotton blend fabric. If the client wants the piece hemmed or custom framed, those processes are completed by hand back on the Vineyard.
Aside from working on personalized wall décor for online clients, she also designs custom wallpaper, including one for the powder room in Edgartown resident Jane Chandler’s home. Jane fell in love with a flowery design that Libby created using cut tissue paper, and asked her to create a wallpaper design. Her designs have also been featured on the décor website One Kings Lane, and Libby dreams of becoming a well-known Vineyard brand. To this end, she’s focusing on her online presence, hoping to gain wider regional and national exposure there.
A friend once told Libby that she was the biggest gambler he knew, because she was “always taking creative risks.” Libby had never thought about herself in that manner.
“I guess I do,” she says. “But then you never know if there is an opportunity there, or what’s on the other side of the risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose; either way you always learn.”
And going from a degree in economic geography to Island life as a full-time artist? It’s safe to say Libby’s creative risks have allowed her to follow her dreams.
