Creating a small business as a student is a tough task, but one that Renfrew Collegiate Institute’s Ella Tettemer has embraced fully.
Her company, In My ELLAment, makes greeting cards using her catalogue of watercolour artwork. Ella says In My ELLAment is a product of the pandemic, as she felt a need to fill time while schools were shut down. She was not expecting the hobby to snowball into a successful business venture, but has enjoyed the opportunity to showcase her artwork through online shopping avenues as well as through Ottawa Valley Coffee locations in Renfrew and Arnprior. Ella also branched out during this past holiday season, painting and selling festive ornaments.
Her grandmother, local artist Linda Sorensen, has been a notable influence in Ella’s artistic journey and notes that her grandmother had been giving her the opportunity to paint since she could hold a paint brush. Ella will also be a guest of the autumn run of this year’s Madawaska Valley Studio Tour through Sorensen’s studio in Wilno.
With a commitment to study biomedical engineering in university, Ella’s future is about to get much more hectic. However, she does want to continue her art and her business when she can find the time to do so.
Listen to Ella Tettemer’s full interview with myFM anchor Kasey Egan here: