“I believe in art for art’s sake.”

Elise Ondak has been drawing and painting since her childhood and has continued developing her art throughout her life, painting a variety of subjects. “There’s something about experiencing a scene through the brush and paint that keeps me coming back, canvas after canvas, to explore the next experience.”

She has been involved in art and art programs since she was able to choose her path, starting with the Studio Art program at Beaumont School. It was there that she met and spent some time studying with Beaumont’s artist in residence and someone Elise considers a mentor, Stanka Kordic. It was Stanka and her devoted instructors in the Studio Art program who inspired Elise to pursue her dream to have a career in fine art.

Elise went on to attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she studied painting. She states, “I found that not everyone in the art world agrees with the way I see art. There will always be critics who try to decide what is and is not art, but I stand firmly by my beliefs. Art can exist for the sake of being art. It doesn’t have to be charged with political undertones to have purpose.”

Recently Elise has been focusing on seascapes, creating large images that echo both her Lake Erie home and her travels to the great coasts of the United States. Her canvases are available at Gallery One.