The desire to create has always been a driving force in Elise’s life. As a kid, she was quiet and reserved but was surprisingly good at entertaining herself and others with her imagination and creativity. Art quickly became a way for her to express herself and open up to others. As Elise grew older, she tried out every possible art medium she could get her hands on: drawing, painting, knitting, ceramics, papier-mache, etc. At the time, all she knew was that she loved art, and she loved to create.

It wasn’t until late in high school that Elise even considered turning her passion into a career. In school, art was only ever seen as an extracurricular activity; it was never thought to be a viable career option. It wasn’t until one fateful day when she finished watching Pixar’s The Incredibles that it clicked; the credits were full of professionals who make art for a living! After that moment and with enthusiastic encouragement from her family, Elise dedicated herself to turning her passion into her dream job.

Attending the CSSSA program at CalArts allowed Elise to further confirm that art and animation were what she wanted to pursue. She attended many portfolio days and spent countless hours perfecting her portfolio for college submissions. After a grueling wait, she received an acceptance letter inviting her into the renowned computer animation program at Ringling College of Art and Design. She hightailed it to the opposite coast to begin learning what it takes to become a professional in the animation world. While at Ringling, Elise discovered her love for 3D modeling. She loved both the technical and creative aspects of sculpting on the computer and couldn’t get enough of it. In her junior year, Elise attended a Hasbro sculpting workshop, which taught her valuable modeling skills and even led to her scoring an internship with Hasbro.

After graduating, Elise returned to her home state, California, to begin her post-college art career with an internship at Baobab Studios VR. She got the chance to work on stylized environment pieces for the studio’s latest VR story experience, Emmy award-winning Baba Yaga. After her internship with Baobab VR, she returned to Hasbro to continue learning the ins and outs of toy production. Elise loved sculpting toys and enjoyed working on such a wide variety of styles and brands.

After about three years at Hasbro, Elise felt a strong pull to return to her roots in computer animation. She began the incredibly arduous journey of balancing a 40 hour work week while updating her portfolio, attending an online modeling class, and raising an energetic puppy. After a couple of opportunities that didn’t pan out, Elise decided she would apply to the CG track for Nickelodeon Artist Program. She fully expected to receive a rejection letter, but to her great surprise, she was accepted with open arms. Elise still can’t believe that she actually works for Nickelodeon and is incredibly excited for the journey ahead!