THE HIDDEN ARTIST: ELLEN RUNDLE

CONNECTION TO NOHO:  Installed tile at the NOHO Park Aquatic Center and loves the thrift shops there

MEDIUMS: Ceramics and mixed media

WEBSITE: http://www.myfandangle.com/

I stumbled upon Ellen Rundle on my way out of the Canoga Park Art Walk the other week and was immediately drawn to two ceramic boxes in front of her jewelry display. Being a fan of  3-D art, I was taken by her ability to take what could've easily been a 2-D painting and give it depth—drawing the viewer into an altogether other dimension, albeit an 8x10 inch one. Needless to say, I bought one of her pieces. The focal point of mine was a Joshua tree tucked inside a small box on the side of what appeared to be the cliff side of a mountain centered in the desert. And like all art interpretations, it reminded me of my time in New Mexico and warmed my heart. 

Ellen's one of those surprises in life. To look at her rather conservative style on the outside, I never would have thought all this curiosity and self-expression would be on the inside. It turns out she is one of those left brain-right brain phenomenons; a woman who spent almost twenty-seven years in IT and as an art director/graphic designer, finally leaving her last position twelve years ago at the Getty to become a full-time fine art ceramicist. But as it turns out, clay has always been her first love. 

Her home is a gallery of sorts—hers and other favored artists' wall hangings and assemblages stretch all the way from the outside of her front door, through the house, and onto the patio. She is constantly creating in her studio (which consists of potters wheels, a glazing station, and a kiln) arts and crafts jewelry from years of bead collecting, abstract wall sculptures from recycled clay and glass, and all her ceramic wonders. 

Ellen explained to me how working at the potters wheel has always been a kind of meditation for her, bringing her into a place of sensitivity and sensuality—keeping her centered. And that's where she began her ceramicist journey, throwing pots at a studio on the westside during the early 80s and selling them to nurseries from the trunk of her car. In fact she still does that, but she's added so much more to her resume in the way of her slab artistry—tile installations to floors, fountains, and showers seen here on her more architectural website, www.ellenrundle.com and her most recent steam punk assemblages she created for a themed show at La Galeria Gitana in San Fernando, a gallery that tends to peak Ellen's interests in unexpected subject matters leaning toward the mystical to the macomb. 

It is a pleasure for me to own one Ellen's pieces and I encourage you to visit her work at  La Galeria Gitana's upcoming exhibit, Reflections of LIfe, running from July 18- September 18. 

Ellen is also available for any graphic design needs and you may visit that website at www.erundledesign.com.