An illustration of a small figure with a backpack and walking stick trekking across a rocky landscape. They are dwarfed by giant, stylised mushrooms and organic forms under a dark, starry sky with a full moon.

Carson Ellis – a former hot dog vendor and a fantastic artist

Words: Ross Bryant
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Date: 13 November 2012; Work
Art
Illustration

Carson Ellis has a compelling story to tell in more ways than one. She’s been a “hot dog vendor in California, a chairlift operator in Vermont, and an artist’s model in Montana.” Nowadays she’s happy to be an illustrator based in Oregon, and what an illustrator she is! Carson received the Silver Medal from the Society of Illustrators in 2010, and has also provided artworks for not just two, or three, but FOUR New York Times bestsellers. So, it seems we have quite some talent here and this Saturday sees Carson Ellis’ return to Nationale with Mush, Mush, The Sloping Midnight Line and it’s all too enchanting not to have a good gander at.

Her latest work is influenced in part by medieval fiction, where the narratives of desire, fear and atonement are represented through scenes in which characters navigate their destinies with “inspiring, yet clearly fated, qualities of romantic stoicism and self-determination.” Collectively, the works within Mush, Mush, The Sloping Midnight Line act to pave a journey of the self; a voyage that will always begin with a first step into a new present. Carson Ellis has presented us with a gorgeous folklore here, and is set to continue providing us all with beautiful art and amazing illustration.