Today we’d like to introduce you to Elijah Thane.
Hi Elijah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I dropped out of high school to be creative and build things. I would have trouble paying attention in school and skip class to go on adventures. Because I dropped out, most people thought I would end up a loser. It seemed that way for a while because I didn’t know what to do with all my free time. I traveled a lot and stayed creative, but I needed a proper system or structure to keep a young adult out of trouble. This is what art did for me. Art gave me a goal. I felt betrayed by the world, and my outlook on life was nihilistic and bitter. The school system failed to set me up for success, having only trained me to sit down, shut up, and memorize arbitrarily chosen facts. When I discovered a possible career as an artist, I learned the most valuable lesson of my life. I learned creative problem-solving. My new skills helped tremendously and drastically altered the trajectory of my life. I learned about thinking outside the box and how to set goals. These new goals I set did not come from following an existing career path but came from passion and curiosity. My goals were ambitious, giving me the proper structure to harmonize with my already adventurous life. Now my adventures were oriented towards what I believed to be my proper goal.
My goal was simple. I just wanted to make the world more beautiful wherever I went. This goal did two major things for me. First and most importantly, it gave me something to do. This defeated the feelings of aimlessness I had growing up. Second, it gave me a success metric and provided a method to track personal progress.
I gamified this journey and used each artistic project to acquire new skills and level up personally and as an artist. After experimenting for many years with many mediums, I work primarily as a mural artist making public spaces more beautiful nationwide. It’s a simple job. I research the local area and the subject matter. I paint the space and then move on to the next city. It’s both hard work and playful simultaneously. My wife recently quit her job to work full-time as an artist, too, and now we work on most projects together. We love what we do and wouldn’t have it any other way.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It could have been a smoother road. Especially in the first few years, there needed to be a more financial success which made life much more complicated. We were struggling to pay the bills. It was the basic things in life that we were struggling with, like food and shelter. It was a very poor town where we come from. The average annual income here is $23k. In my first year as a full-time artist, I earned around $1000. The second year was around $15k, but I still needed more to earn a comfortable living. The first three years were brutal. It felt like we were barely getting by. I stuck with it, though. There was this gut feeling that I knew I would be successful. After 3 years, we earned enough for my wife to quit her job. That was a leap of faith because her job at the time was our only steady source of income. The bet paid off because now she earns more as an artist than what she went to college for. It was one leap of faith after another with a lot of commitment and discipline.
Thanks for sharing that. Can you tell us more about your work next?
I mostly make paintings. At least that’s what pays the bills. I make videos for YouTube and dabble in many creative fields, but currently, painting murals is my main work.
I specialize in Nature themed murals for schools and Dr. offices. Separately I also paint mythological/ religious works in a more classical style. I’m known for my bold, iconic compositions. My murals are usually simple, bright, and in high contrast. I use lots of natural colors. I use lots of blues and greens. My two main specialties overlap, though. The nature-themed art geared toward children has a hint of classical and timeless appeal. My mythological art then has a vibrant, futuristic, modern aesthetic. I keep the two styles as separate as they need to be but blend them when appropriate.
I’m most proud of 2 things—first, the good choices and decisions I made to get me to where I am today. We can’t take responsibility for the cards we’re dealt, but we can take responsibility for how we play those cards. I think I played my cards reasonably well the past few years. Second I’m proud of my artistic style. I meticulously studied art history and combined all the best parts of all my favorite artists to achieve the style I paint today. My style is a combination of all my hero’s life’s work. I’m proud of taking so much time to study and learn from the great artists throughout history to get to where I am.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Any business with big blank, boring walls is welcome to contact us. We love commercial projects. We paint brand-themed murals and minimalist-themed murals explicitly designed to increase productivity and cognitive function in the workplace. The best way for a business to work with us and collaborate is to reach out to us about improving the design of their space. We are happy to help. For everyone else, the best way to support us is to follow us online. Facebook & YouTube are our primary outlets.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elijahthane.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elijahthane/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elijahthaneart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-thane/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/elijah_thane
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@elijahthane
