Elise is happy to be an artist after losing her job due to the pandemic. Following her passion has given her immense satisfaction.

Elise Eekhout is an artist. Earlier, she worked as a graphic designer for twenty years. As she lost her job due to the pandemic, she started following her old passion and started painting and selling her art. She says she converted a negative situation into a positive one.

Elise is from a small village in the Netherlands. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother took care of the household. She had a nice childhood playing outside and at the beach, which was near their house. Her basic love for nature is reflected in her paintings.

After completing high school, Elise wanted to join an art school. But her family didn’t approve of the idea, so she learned computers and became a graphic designer. She joined a company and worked there for twenty years. She says she enjoyed her work as a graphic designer. In fact, as a graphic designer, she got a chance to go to an art school to improve her skills. She learned many creative things there.

Elise started painting again and also began exhibiting her paintings. But after she got married and had children, it was difficult to manage so many things, so she stopped painting. After a gap of ten years when the pandemic struck, she decided to take to painting again, as there was no work for a graphic designer. She thinks if you are really passionate about something, one day you will definitely get a chance to do that.

Elise recollects how her family once said that you can’t just sit in a room and paint; you will have to sell them. Now that she has become a professional artist and is able to sell her paintings, she is proud of the fact that she is able to make a living out of her art.

Elise says everyone makes mistakes in life, and she has also made mistakes. But, she thinks, you also learn from your mistakes. She thinks it is not bad to make mistakes. She says you should always follow your heart and not bother about what people say. She has always found inspiration from things around her and also from the books she always reads.

If she gets a chance to travel back in time, she would like to go back to her high school days and join an art school without paying heed to what her family said. When asked about her hobbies, she says she likes to read books and also enjoys working outside in the midst of nature.

Her tip to young artists is that you don’t become an artist; you are born an artist. She feels artists think differently from the beginning, and people around you do notice that you think differently. It is something inside you. But her advice is that if you want to be a professional artist, you must sell your art.