      ✉

Elle Loves..

Elle loves is where you will find out about London artist & poet Elle Smith, insights in what she likes, her secret treats, new products, plans for the future. You will gain some insight into her multi-layered creativity and learn what truly inspires her.

1. SNOW LEOPARDS

It saddens me to know that such a beautiful animal is facing extinction. These animals are fierce and yet have a cuteness, which is exquisite. I was lucky enough to see these amazing creatures, hence the painting of a baby snow leopard. I hope that by painting nearly extinct animals to inspire donations to their respective charities, and bids for purchase of these unique pieces of artwork. Visit www.snowleopard.org for more information or to make a donation.

The snow leopard is probably my favourite animal on this planet, and yet they are so rare too. My admiration has spurred me on to paint several other endangered animals, so please take a look at my Animals Gallery to view this spectacular collection. Hopefully, we can then build awareness in order to protect these precious animals.

2. KIRSTY MITCHELL

I am truly in awe of the work that this lady produces, and I am sure you will be too if you trust my words. I have watched her develop since I was introduced to her work, and she inspires me. She has clearly been greatly inspired and influenced by her mother, to produce such extraordinary and magical scenes. Her work is exquisitely stunning!

The "Wonderland" collection is my favourite. Click on the name to link to this stunning collection of photographs which are just like a fairytale.

3. BLAKE LITTLE - PHOTOGRAPHER

The "Preservation" collection is a stunning demonstration of how photography can capture a moment, but even more the seemingly frozen moment in honey adds depth, dimension and is simply fascinating. I would love to be coated in honey, and to have that golden glow whilst the honey drapes my body.

4. GICLÉE PRINTS

I will soon be offering Limited Edition Giclée Prints of selected pieces of my artwork. These prints are produced using high-quality ink and via a special spray technique which few printers are qualified to produce. The quality of these prints is astounding and beautiful. They will each come with a stunning Certificate of Authenticity, which is again produced on a special paper produced by Hahnemühle, which has security fibres embedding in the paper. Added to this, both the print and certificate will have a holographic sticker with a matching unique number to verify the authenticity of the print. Packaged in a handmade white box, with a foil embossed logo, this will be the gift that everyone will want.

For more information about giclée prints, please click here

5. WORLD WIDE FUND FOR NATURE (WWF)

WWF do a lot of work around the globe to protect our environment and the animals who share this precious planet with us. They have done many great campaigns to highlight and raise funds to protect animals facing extinction. Certainly with some species, they have reversed the downward trend and these species numbers are rising.

You will see that we have many animals from the Endangered Species List within our animals gallery. We recognise and also share this vision. A link is included here to make donations to WWF, if you would like to support their brilliant work.

6. CLOUD ATLAS BY DAVID MITCHELL

I remember the afternoon that I first watched this movie, it was amazing how one movie could bring together so many thoughts, feelings and situations that I had faced in life. I say faced as in the sense that often we hide those innermost feelings that we experience, often thinking that we might somehow face ridicule to fully express ourselves.

Literally that Sunday I was glued to the screen as I went on a trip of déjà vu. Immediately, I wanted to share those feelings and moments with the person who is the object of my affection, knowing that he too would have felt exactly what I had during the movie.

This movie is full of insight, amazing expressions and quotes by David Mitchell, so I wanted to share a few of my favourite ones here:

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.”

.

“I believe there is another world waiting for us. A better world. And I'll be waiting for you there.”

.

“Unlimited power in the hands of limited people always leads to cruelty.”

.

“In an individual, selfishness uglifies the soul; for the human species, selfishness is extinction.”

.

“...there ain't no journey what don't change you some.”

.

“Truth is singular. Its 'versions' are mistruths.”

7. WHITE BENGAL TIGERS

This morning (Sunday 6 December 2015) I awoke and was saddened to hear this story. Only 135 of these rare tigers are left in Russia, yet one of these beautiful cubs died due to the cold. The zoo in Yalta, Crimea is awaiting a new generator to arrive, amidst power blackouts to the region for the last two weeks.

Here is a link to the image of these beautiful and sadly endangered tiger cubs.

8. NEW TIPS, TRICKS AND INFORMATION

I love to find out new skills and ways to do things, so I will try to provide a varied mix of useful pieces of information in this section on ideas or things that I find useful to know, and which aid my creativity. Hopefully, this section will prove useful to you too!

9. CREATIVITY IN THE KITCHEN

There is no doubt that we all possess creativity, however it is more developed and refined in some people than others. Nevertheless creativity is within us all, and may be displayed differently between two individuals as we are all unique beings.

I love to be creative in the kitchen, and see a plate as a palette to be decorated with food. Cooking provides relaxation for me as I allow my imagination to conjure up dishes to delight the taste buds.

Below I share some of my favourite creations:

10. LEARNING NEW SKILLS

I truly believe that every day of our time on this planet should be an opportunity to learn and acquire new skills. The beauty of living in the 21st Century is that with the help of those friendly giants called GOOGLE, you can literally master any skill from the armchair in your home. Clearly, given the scenes in "The Matrix", where Trinity simply downloads a programme to be able to fly a helicopter; it is not too far in the future that we will be able to upload new skills.

Many people believe in having an active life, be it jogging in all sorts of terrains or becoming the best member of the local gym, fitness is certainly the new buzz activity. However, many still do not exercise this due diligence to the brain. Well, hello the brain needs exercise too!

Learning new things, even languages provides that exercise. Remember that saying "If you don't use it, then you lose it", well we watch our elders there is a strong suggestion that the brain does need regular, challenging exercise. The form of that exercise is learning, and it does not necessarily need to be academic. Below I am going to try to give you some interesting insights into "how to" do new skills: -

11. THE ACADEMY OF COLOUR

Colour for me makes everything alive and real. I simply could not imagine living in a monochrome world. Everything takes on a new dimension with colour. I thought that in this section, it would be fun to research the colours of the spectrum, to find out what the colours mean, even in different cultures. We make so many choices involving colour, I think it is going to be fun to understand why and whether there is any underlying reason(s) for the choices we make in deciding colour.

12. ARTICULACTION ART REVIEW

Well, I cannot express how honoured I feel to have been featured in a 26-page article by ARTiculAction's contemporary art magazine. The interview is very interesting as it examines the inspiration and ideas behind my work, and gains a true appreciation of what I have set out to achieve with my art, poetry and literary works to come. Please click here to access the article. Thank you.