Intuitive artist

September 22, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Samantha Elliott was raised in Palmer, part of a large family with roots in the Valley going back to the colonists.

Tymoreye Elliott, the intuitive artist, evolved from Samantha.

&#8220Tymoreye is a medicine name I've been carrying for the last two years,” Elliott said. &#8220I have huge draw to cater to a spiritual past.”

Strong creative inclinations led Elliott to take accelerated art classes at Palmer High School. And although she went to University of Alaska Fairbanks to become a teacher, her creativity pulled her in a different direction.

&#8220I have an incredible passion, and art comes out of me,” Elliott said. &#8220I thought I would be an English teacher with a Spanish minor, and teach around the world. But even taking a full 18 credits, I found myself in the art studio.”

Elliott devoted herself to art, with an &#8220overwhelming faith” the world would take care of her. She was inspired, also, by graduate students she met at the always-open UAF art studios who made a living with their art. After graduation from the fine-arts program and a stint on the East Coast, Elliott returned to the Valley feeling confident yet exhausted.

&#8220I knew art was a real easy thing for me to dedicate myself to,” Elliott said. &#8220I knew I had all the art skills I needed at the time, but I needed a spiritual life.”

She started going to the Matanuska River, doing a ceremony to the river and setting her intent to make her body happy.

&#8220I asked to be able to know my origins and culture,” Elliott said. &#8220Even though I'm a great-granddaughter of colonists, I knew I wasn't on my native land. This is Athabascan land, and I have to respect that.”

As an artist, Elliott uses airbrush and acrylics to create large paintings, such as the vibrant mural at Burchell High School, which was funded through the state's 1 Percent for Art program. Elliott worked at the school as a vocational counselor the same year she created the mural, and got feedback about it from 70 students and faculty in the process.

&#8220It was almost a whole conversation with as much of the school as possible,” she said.

That's how Elliott creates her intuitive portraits, listening before doing.

&#8220I tune in for about 10 minutes,” she said. &#8220It's all a free-will process. It doesn't happen without consent. Almost my whole life is governed by synchornousness. Life presents opportunities, and I use intuition to get me to the next place.”

Opportunities and intuition keep Elliott busy, working with the Mother Drum Project, holding three different shows at Vagabond Blues and earning a commission to create a custom painting for new condos at Bootleggers Cove in Anchorage.

Elliott has a &#8220huge family base” in the Valley, with five new babies, including a set of triplets, due to be born by the end of November.

She is the eccentric artist in the family, she said, free to blaze a whole new path on her own. Her grandfather set an example for community involvement that Elliott retained on her path.

&#8220The art work is my giveaway - my gift” she said.

&#8220I was able bring love and gifts back here, to involve the community and be able to manifest it. For my personal goals, I want the normal success and income. I will go out of state for that, but will be returning here to reweave what I learn back into the community.”

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.