INSIDE THE STUDIO

At the heart of any small business is a human being with a dream just trying to make it work… second to that is limited funds and limitless hours of hard work. My name is Elisha and I am the owner and creative hand behind Blue Roan Studio.

My love for art and creativity started from a very young age. I was drawing confidently with texta’s from the age of two and started professional art classes when I was five. Art was my strongest subject throughout my schooling and I started portrait work in my early teens. When I was sixteen I was asked by a local racehorse trainer if I would draw all his highest earning horses - my pictures were going straight to the pool room! This was when it dawned on me that my drawings held real value. I then started to dabble in the art of portraiture as gift for friends and family throughout the years that followed.

Blue Roan Studio was born in early 2016 when I was looking for someway to reawaken my love of sketching, which had been pushed aside for my Graphic Design career. 

Like most things it was a VERY slow burn. I would go months at a time without any work and then BOOM, another commission would roll in my door. To begin with it was a juggling act trying to gauge how long each portrait would take, so the slow start was exactly what I needed in those early days. 

“ If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”

Twelve months in and the work really started to snow ball. I was receiving so many orders and consistent work, so I decided to reduce my full time job to four days a week in order to give me some breathing space and time to complete the commissions without burning myself out. 

Working 2 jobs is tough, in a busy week I go to work 9 til 5:30, get home around 6:15 cook dinner then sit straight back down and work another 2 to 4 hours on a portrait – this is often the case every night of the week. I always find the tough weeks worth it when I get amazing feedback from my clients. Not to mention I know I’m one step closer towards my ultimate vision of working for myself full time. 

I am the proud fur parent to my own pocket rocket called Matilda, or Tilly as she is more affectionately known. She is just shy of 8 years old and a Heeler mix. If it were up to me I would probably have another twenty dogs and some horses as well.

“ If at the end of the drawing I feel as though I wouldn’t hang it on my own wall, I start again!”

Having a passion and love of all creatures great and small means that I know what my customers want in their portrait. They want their pet… not just a drawing of their dog or horse, but a drawing that really captures the personality and quirkiness that they know and love. Every portrait I create is created as if it were my own. If at the end of the drawing I feel as though I wouldn’t hang it on my own wall, I start again! No portrait leaves my hands unless it’s one hundred percent perfect, even if that means extra hours, cause when you love what you do that’s just the way it is.

I hope one day I can create a portrait for you!

Elisha x