Meet Shawn Ellis | Woodworker/Artist

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

Hi Shawn, what is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?
Quality. Artistic Flare. Uniqueness. These are the most important factors behind the Živel Natural Creations brand. For example, anyone can make a charcuterie/cutting board but by highlighting the natural voids and unique grain patterns of the wood and incorporating stone, resin and other natural elements, a unique and one-of-a-kind creation is made. Each creation is made with the highest quality and attention to detail.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Cutting/Charcuterie boards were the first creations offered and continue to be highly sought after…after all they make great gifts and kitchen art, in addition to being functional! Thereafter natural live edge tables and shelf creations were introduced. The goal has always been to use as much of the tree as possible which brought to life other creations such bottle openers, wine stoppers, bar boards, stands, dice, magnets, etc.

The wood used is sourced locally, partnering with local arborists who are taking trees down (i.e., tree is too close to fence, pool is being built, tree is in fire break area, etc.).  The recovered wood is then sliced and dried. This provides us our wood supply to work with for our creations and then the extra wood slabs are sold.  Ultimately, all this wood would be destined for the landfill.  This is where the phrase/tagline “Nature Transformed” stemmed from.

Launching a business is never easy, but launching a business two months before COVID hit (January 2020) was even harder. We weren’t able to hold our first monthly event until August 2020, which made it hard to get our name out there initially. But a huge thanks goes out to a local property management company for taking a chance to help out a new local business and allowing us to set up in their parking lot in Cave Creek. Since then, we’ve built up our following and have repeat customers.

The biggest lessons learned are that there will be ups and downs along one’s journey. Don’t get discouraged, don’t give up. Stay true to your principals. Surround yourself with positive influences. Work hard and advocate for yourself and you will achieve success.

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.
I’m a foodie, always planning activities around great food options! I love the little town of Cave Creek, AZ…where we’ve called home since 2017. There are so many wonderful locally owned restaurants and shops in town, making answering this question so hard…I wish I could name them all!

For breakfast, we would visit The Wagon Wheel for an old school breakfast or The Village Coffee Shop for crepes or the Carefree Coffee Shop for tea/coffee and baked goods. For lunch, we would visit Bryan’s Black Mountain BBQ for BBQ (try their famous tomato sandwiches in the summer) or Big Earl’s Greasy Eats for burgers & malts or Indian Village for Mexican/Native American food. For dinner, some great options include Pomodoro for Italian, Ofrenda for Latin or the famous Harold’s Coral for the Wild West saloon experience. The town has lots of local artists, so we would check out some of the local galleries and murals through town and if visiting in November, Hidden in the Hills is a must see! The town is very walkable. I would suggest taking a stroll through Frontier Town for more unique shops and a walk back in time. Cave Creek has it all though, hiking trails, golf, horseback riding, rodeos and so much more!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
It was on Law Enforcement Appreciation Day (1/9/19) that we stopped off at the Cave Creek Sheriff’s station to bring some goodies as our way of saying thank you for their service. Little did I know that would be the beginnings of a woodworking hobby that then turned into a business in 2020.

Over the course of 2019, we got to know several of the sheriff’s, whom were woodworking hobbyists. Seeing their work inspired me to want to experiment with wood myself. Since then, I’ve fallen in love with creating with my hands one-of-a-kind wood creations, seeing ‘Nature Transformed’. It’s amazing how one day can change the course of events in one’s life!

I’d also like to give credit to my son Ryan as he has been a tremendous help with the monthly shows and my husband Charles has been my biggest supporter.

Website: www.zivelnaturalcreations.com

Instagram: @zivelnaturalcreations

Facebook: @zivelnaturalcreations