Thanks to Block Portrait Studios for their support.
Ella Shillcox is a local West St. Paul student who just graduated from Perpich Arts High School. She makes dragons out of polymer clay with varying designs and accessories. Each dragon is unique and handmade with a name, personality, and story. She also makes small felt creatures called pocket monsters. She’s sold these alongside her dragons with her business, Ella’s Dragons, and for the past seven years.
Shillcox has a presence at West Side Farmer’s Market and West St. Paul Pride, where she sells her products for under $5 apiece.
Why So Cheap?
“I tend to undervalue my art sometimes,” said Shillcox. “But I also want to make it more accessible for people. A lot of kids want to buy my art. And a lot of times, they’ll just throw a couple bucks at me and be like, ‘Here you go.’ So I don’t want them to be able to not buy it.”
Upcycling
Shillcox incorporates materials that might otherwise be trashed. From plastic bags as stuffing in her pocket monsters to old toy parts in her dragons, she is finding creative ways to support the environment through her work. As she put it, “I love the environment. I think it’s pretty neat.”
Longevity Uncertainty
Shillcox plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie in the fall to major in video game development. She is also considering minors in computer science and animation to help support her major.
“I want to move on to bigger things,” said Shillcox. “I really want to get into the video game industry. Video games and comics. That’s really where my passion lies.”
Shillcox says she is unsure if she will continue her business after college. “I really liked my dragons, but right now I feel burnt out,” she explained. “And it’s a tad bit limiting as an art form because there’s only so much you can do without stuff breaking.”
As for the pocket monsters, Shillcox said, “These guys I might continue making because you can do a little bit more with felt. There are different patterns you can cut. I recently started making keychains.”
Encouraging the Craft
“I would like to see more people get into the arts,” Shillcox said. “I feel like it’s a cool thing to be a part of. It’s a cool thing to be a creator.” To the kids inspired by her creations, she says: “You can make your own dragons. One day, you can be better than me.”
This season you can find Ella’s work at West St. Paul Pride in the Park on July 13, 2024, and the West Side Farmers Market on Saturdays until the end of October.
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