Meet Ellen Mahnken | Multidisciplinary artist designer maker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ellen Mahnken and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ellen, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I was always a creative. Art and music were ever present and encouraged in my home growing up. and art became my true passion. As an adult, with some college, work, and a family, my education became more self directed. With drawing and painting being my foundation, I started exploring many different mediums and art forms. Unable to focus my skills in just one area, I became somewhat obsessed with trying and learning many new things. What started with pen and ink, calligraphy, pottery, sewing, quilting, leather and pattern making led to computer graphics, glass bead making, and jewelry design. (I just love crazy unique jewelry and assemblage.)
Although I live in upstate New York, I started going to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Shows every January that I could. I met amazing artisans, wonderful friends, and found an endless supply of inspiration and interesting opportunities. One year I met Dr. Jay Goldberg, owner of Relics II, who restores and sells incredible fossils to collectors and museums. We’ve collaborated on sculptures where I sand carved prehistoric creatures into glass and he set them into exotic wood bases. He taught me some restoration and painting techniques. I do scrimshaw on megalodon teeth and fossilized bones for him …and now have even more interesting resources and collections for my jewelry and assemblage mosaics using fossils. So to answer the question, I don’t think I chose an artistic career, I’ve just kind of grown into it.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from others would be my abilities and skills in many mediums. Another is my ability to meet deadlines. I’ve always been advised to focus in one area to be masterful but since I could never decide,….. I do all that I love. Some areas get neglected for a while but I always come back to them. I work for myself these days and mostly by commission. I enjoy the challenge of creating something physical from an idea. After painting for years I’ve also found joy in making three dimensional forms and altering hard surfaces. Everything is always eye hand coordination and imagination. Different tools and different surfaces. I love being able to create what is in my mind’s eye, and also happy accidents. My passions range from calligraphy and stone carving to computer graphics and 3D printing. I’m inspired by both nature and architecture. For clients I’ve created jewelry, logos, industrial product and catalog design, signs, chandeliers and sculpture. There’s so much beauty in the world, I want to play in it all. It hasn’t been easy, there are constant challenges but I wouldn’t want it any other way. My friends refer to me as a renaissance woman.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sedona – Sunset watch from the airport Mooney’s Irish Pub
Oak Creek – The Colt for a great breakfast

Tucson- Hiking in the Saguaro National Park
Sunset from Mount Lemon
The 22nd Street Show (Jan.-Feb.)
Kino Show (Jan. -Feb.)
Karner Caves ( in Benson)

Restaurants – The Wildflower (fine dining), India Twist, Rocco’s (for wings), and The Raw (for sushi)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband, Hank, deserves the most credit for being my partner in life and art. He has always been there to help me trouble shoot, fabricate, move really heavy things, give opinions, and keep me grounded. He knows well how to deal with an eccentric artist wife. We designed and built our own home, raised a family and continue to explore and make things together. He built me a sandblasting house behind the barn and hooked it all up. What I can’t do he’s able to and vice versa. Other mentors have been generous teachers I’ve been fortunate to study with. For decades, I’ve studied oil painting with Hongnian Zhang and his wife Lois Woolley at the Woodstock School of Art. I learned to work in glass with artists at the Corning Museum Studios and working years for the renown artist Ulla Darni painting thousands of glass chandeliers. Stone carving I learned from sculptor Kevin VanHentenryck. Too many people to list, you can learn something new from every artist and workshop.

Website: www.ellenmahnken.com

Instagram: ellenmahnken

Other: ellenmahnken@gmail.com