Ellie Hitchcock began working with polymer clay when she was a coordinator for children's activities in a homeless shelter, looking for a user-friendly medium that she could use with the children. Ellie had previously been a watercolor painter but never had the passion for watercolor that she feels for polymer clay.
After taking the Artist's Way course in 1995, she made the decision to pursue her art full-time. Ellie started out with her work in a cooperative gallery in downtown San Diego and in two galleries in La Jolla and then juried into Spanish Village Art Center in beautiful Balboa Park. For four years Ellie was president of the art center. She is also a member of the San Diego Polymer Clay Guild of which she is past president and was the Communications Officer for many years. She is also the past chair/co-chair for the annual polymer clay retreat called Sandy Camp, which brought people together from all over the globe to do polymer clay. Ellie is also the liaison to the San Diego County Fair for both Spanish Village Art Center and the San Diego Polymer Clay Guild.
Ellie founded the Children's Integrated Art Experience... hands-on art for all 5th grade students in the San Diego City Schools. It was very successful and ran for 2 years, reaching nearly 28,000 children and 420 teachers, until a lack of state funding forced it into a hiatus. She then ran an after-school art enrichment program in Solana Beach and ran week-long art camps in Balboa Park for children during the summer. She also started an adult art camp that ran for 4 years. She has included artists who work in various other media, as well as polymer clay.
Ellie was the president of the Village Arts and Education Foundation, the 501c3 non-profit organization at Spanish Village Art Center until September 2018. Under its umbrella adult and children summer art camps are run, as well as educational programs for the SVAC artists and outreach to the larger community. Currently Ellie teaches private classes in her studio.
Ellie has received many awards for her polymer clay at the San Diego County Fair, has had pieces in the Small Image Show in Gallery 21 and in July, 2006 won the Designer’s Choice Award from the American Art Clay Company at the Craft and Hobby Association show in Chicago and later a community service award from the same company.. She has also been a finalist three times in the AMACO Bottle of Hope Challenge. She received the Inspiration Award from the Millennium Society in 2000 for her work in Balboa Park.
Ellie is fortunate to have a delightful little studio in Spanish Village Art Center in beautiful Balboa Park and shares her studio with three very talented artists. If you are ever in San Diego please come visit Studio 30!
