Ella Blame
Munich born Ella Blame is a multidisciplinary artist whose life has been deeply shaped by both music and visual art. Raised in a musical family, she developed a passion for creativity from an early age. She lived in Munich and Berlin, Germany, and Vienna, Austria, before immigrating to the United States where she settled in southeastern Wisconsin.
While Ella attended the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, she considers herself largely self-taught, having honed her craft through independent exploration. Her work is profoundly influenced by early encounters with masters such as Wassily Kandinsky, Egon Schiele, Alfred Kubin, Ernst Kirchner, and Alexej von Jawlensky. Her artistic oeuvre is diverse, encompassing nature studies, surreal and abstract compositions, as well as explorations in figurative and mystic expressionism. Through her paintings, Ella seeks to distill the essence of rhythm and movement, weaving a visual dialogue between the finished and the unfinished, the raw and the refined, and the interplay of darkness and light. On canvas, she favors acrylics, while her works on paper employ a range of media, including markers, ballpoint pens, graphite, colored pencils, ink, and watercolor.
To date, Ella Blame has released four albums, "Ineffable Desire", "Bitter Tears", "Unreleased" and "Improvised Words" (incl. "Dancing Angel", "Overture" and "Melody"), the singles "Lunatic", "Play A Game With Me", "The Stars" and "Embrace", as well as "The Call" (violin), "Lament" (violin) and "2ySynth and Violin" (instrumental).
Notes from the Studio radio interview with David John Dietrich
David: We are talking about music and painting and how they are related. Why don't you begin by telling us how you got started in the arts.
Ella: I was told by my parents that I began to draw as soon as I could hold a pencil in my hands. I don’t remember that but I remember me drawing and painting at an early age. It was just always important to me. I would bring my drawing and painting utensils with me when we went on vacation. I worked from my imagination but I also began early to draw what I saw in nature or just in my room or the flowers on our balcony etc. I also remember that I created a book when I was about five years old. It was a story about crayons that traveled the world.
David: What opportunities did you have that lead you to success in both your art and your life?
Ella: My parents did encourage me being an artist and musician. That was probably the most important opportunity. But overall, I mostly went the hard route. I could have done a lot of things differently but I didn’t and I'm not looking back. And I never agreed to change my style which especially applies to my musical work. There were opportunities but I wouldn’t have been able to do my own thing.
David: How about hardships. Is there anything you can tell us about something you had to overcome in order to pursue art?
Ella: I don’t know. I always keep going, keep creating. There were times when I was ill for a long time but I did still create, even when I was in a hospital bed. In fact, I created all works for my diploma in a hospital bed. Or when my first partner died and then years later my second partner. Then my world stood still and it took me a long time to recover. Both times I thought “This is it, I am done, I am too tired to continue, to start over”. But I did continue, I did start over, I continued to create.
David: How does music play a role in your paintings?
Ella: I see and feel rhythm in a painting. Also sounds but it is more about rhythm. And music inspires my work as an artist and vice versa.
David: Do you have any advice for young artists starting off?
Ella: Do your thing. Don’t expect people to love what you do. Don’t expect success, just create.
Exhibitions
Current Exhibition
Miramont Outpatient Center Solo Exhibition "Art, Resilience and Redemption", Middleton, WI - February 24-April 20, 2025
Upcoming Exhibitions
Beloit Art Center 25th Anniversary Group Exhibition, Beloit, WI - June 6-July 24, 2025
Blue Moon Gallery Group Exhibition, Grayslake, IL - August 2-23, 2025
2025
"Inspired Reflections" Group Exhibition, Delavan, WI – March 12-16
TiniER Art Gallery Group Exhibition “Renewal - Tiny American Abstracts”, Franklin, WI - January 1-February 28
2024/2025
Jackson Junge Gallery Group Exhibition "TEN by TEN", Chicago, IL - November 5, 2024-January 12, 2025
2024
WVA Beloit Art Center Group Exhibition, Beloit, WI - November 1-30
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – October 25
WVA UW Hospital Group Exhibition, Madison, WI - September 29-October 25
WVA Kasieta Center Group Exhibition, Verona, WI - June 14-August 29
TiniER Art Gallery Solo Exhibition “Landscapes and Beings”, Franklin, WI - April 19-May 10
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – April 26
"Inspired Reflections" Group Exhibition, Delavan, WI – March 6-10
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – February 23
TiniER Art Gallery Group Exhibition “Renewal”, Franklin, WI - January 1-February 23
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – January 25
2023/2024
Jackson Junge Gallery Group Exhibition "TEN by TEN", Chicago, IL - November 3-January 7
Dietrich Studio Group Exhibition, Sharon, WI - December 1-January 6
2023
WVA UW Aboretum Steinhauer Trust Art Gallery Group Exhibition, Madison, WI - November 1-December 27
Artful Women Group Exhibition UW Skylight Lounge Gallery, Madison, WI - November 4-December 2
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – October 27
WVA UW Hospital Group Exhibition, Madison, WI - August 27-September 29
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL - September 22
WVA Monroe Hospital Group Exhibition, Madison, WI - May 22–August 26
"Inspired Reflections" Group Exhibition, Delavan, WI – March 15-19
2022
Art as Prayer Group Exhibition, Delavan, WI – March 23-27
2021
Starline Factory 4th Friday Group Exhibition, Harvard, IL – June 25
House of Music WAC Solo Exhibition, Lake Geneva, WI – June 24
2019/2020
Dietrich Studio and Gallery Solo Exhibition “Rhapsody”, Sharon, WI - December 1-January 31
2016
Dietrich Studio and Gallery Fall Group Exhibition, Darien, WI – October 15
Dietrich Studio and Gallery Spring Group Exhibition “Breathe”, Darien, WI - March 19-21