Divine Decadence on Canvas

Little Rock native is bringing the roaring 20s to a sketchbook near you

Since 17, central Arkansas artist Ella McGoldrick has been honing her craft. Having grown up in art galleries because of the work her mother did as well as having Argenta Arts District in her backyard, it’s no wonder that she was bound for greatness in the art world. Today, she creates nostalgic art pieces that showcase doe-eyed flapper girls with delicate Regency inspired backgrounds, realistic still lifes and jaw-dropping landscapes.

When she started, Ella was relying on a medium that we are all familiar with – Crayola colored pencils. She found the craft to be a satisfying way to spend her time as she began to grow up and dedicated herself to learning hyper-realism. As her talent has evolved and expanded over time, she’s moved on from the colored pencils and found her stride with oil paints. Recently, she has made a transition into gouache paints and paint markers as well.

Ella has a love for color. She often spends time on Pinterest looking at different color schemes. When she feels blocked for inspiration she often finds herself pulling out her colored pens and experimenting with color and form to get the creative flow going again. Her artworks often boast a central color scheme of teal, coral, and yellowish gold. As a result her artworks are reminiscent of 1700s France and the intricate antique furniture that this era turned out. “I find it really interesting how color interacts,” Ella says, “I love looking for color schemes and experimenting with them.”

Ella also gives a lot of credit to the 1972 movie Cabaret, citing it as both a source of influence and as the impression she wishes to leave on viewers of her artwork. To get herself into the zone, she listens to music like The Talking Heads and other bands from the 80s and 90s. She is inspired by the fashion in older movies and even used to hand draw her outfits to give herself a paper doll version of Hannah Montana’s famous closet.

For her participation in the upcoming Loom event; Art Shuffle, Ella will be bringing a variety of new pieces as well as some older ones. One that stands out is a large canvas portrait of a woman titled Lady Delphinium, which is a striking up close image of a flapper girl with big brown eyes that captures viewers with her longing stare. Other pieces include, two portraits, a floral piece and a still life that she assures us is worth the wait to see for the first time.

In the future, Ella hopes to continue participating in both markets and galleries. She finds them to be a good source of connection with other artists and a proactive way to build up her community. She encourages other artists not to get frustrated with themselves and to continue trying. If you’d like to see more of her work you can find it on her Instagram @flapperfanny_creates_.