
Shannon Elise has led an exceptional life thus far.
A GRADUATE OF The Ohio State University, the local artist has worked as a reporter, a newspaper editor, a bartender, an employee of OSU and a skydiving instructor. She even lived on a tour bus for the better part of a year.
However, when it came to art, Elise had only taken a few classes in high school and college. Then, while teaching skydiving in Dallas, she had an idea to paint her shoes to see what they looked like on camera during a dive.
“One of the things that is cool when you’re jumping with a camera on your head and you look down, you can see your shoes and you look like a giant walking on the ground,” Elise says. “I decided to paint galaxies on my own shoes because I thought it would be a cool photo.”
People would notice Elise’s shoes and ask her to do similar designs, but it wasn’t until a trip to a thrift store that things started to click.
“I am a bit of a hippie myself,” Elise laughs. “On one of my thrifting trips, I came across some denim jackets and thought, I could paint these. And it all just started from there.”

Elise’s work reflects her political beliefs, passion for fighting climate change and appreciation of pop culture. At times, her work has a deeper meaning and can be a little dark, but the artist tells those stories with an abundance of color.
“I try and make things so colorful that it draws people in, and once you’re like, ‘Oh, the pretty colors … the flowers,’ you’ll look into it and it tends to have some sort of environmental message or something dark,” Elise says. “I want to take things that are dark or scary and make them into things that people want to look at.”
Take, for example, an old wedding gown that Elise turned into an ode to the ocean. The dress featured greenery in the front and displayed animals that are often overlooked, such as the goblin shark and vampire squid.
The train of the dress depicted the bleached coral reef and animals that are extinct or endangered due to human interaction.
Clothing is a moving canvas for Elise and the way she communicates her feelings and emotions in a way that makes sense to her.
“I like the challenge of painting on clothing; it’s always a different surface or texture … and there’s a huge difference between painting on satin, denim or leather,” Elise says. “But what also comes with painting clothes is that I am painting on items that people have either donated or were going to throw out. … You are making things new again and turning it into art.”
Art Activism
As protests broke out across the city this summer, Elise was looking for a way to amplify her voice and provide support in the ongoing fight.
Her brother-in-law, a freelance photojournalist, captured a photo of a black man with his fist in the air and people in the background. Elise was instantly inspired.
Elise painted the photo on the back of a jean jacket, included as many names as she could find of Black and indigenous people of color who were killed by police. On the inside, the words “I can’t breathe” are surrounded by the names of those whose last words were echoed. She also includes Elijah McClain’s last words.
“Art activism is the only way other than donating money that I know how to have a voice in this,” Elise says. “As a white woman, I want to amplify the voice of others, and I painted the jacket in the hopes of not having any profits for myself, but to raise money to support the cause.”

Giving New Life
When Elise is painting, she rarely paints on a flat surface. For her, it makes more sense to use hoop skirts and mannequins and paint the way the piece will be worn. She likens her process to the way a tattoo artist tries to get their work to flow with the body and wrap well.
Most of her work is larger pieces derived from her inventory and findings, but she does complete some custom denim pieces for those interested. When the pandemic first began, she also painted more than 100 face masks.
Elise’s work captures her infectious personality and undeniable curiosity and passion for her interactions with the world. She finds beauty in things that most view as no longer usable.
“A lot of the things we throw away or discard, whether it’s a jacket with a hole in it … or a wedding dress that a woman has had boxed up for years, can still be beautiful and you can do something else with,” Elise says. “I hope that we can turn these things into art … and sometimes wear them!”
Rocco Falleti is an editor. Feedback welcome at rfalleti@cityscenecolumbus.com.