Meet Chelsea Romaniello | Illustrator, Designer and Purveyor of Whimsy

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chelsea Romaniello and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chelsea, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Like so many people in the creative industries, it feels like a creative career pursued me. At a certain point I just realized that I was going to spend my time taking on creative projects no matter what, so I might as well make a career out of it. Even though I spent 9 years working in creative education and program management, a full-time career in design and illustration felt inevitable. Eventually my “hobby” projects started taking up too much time to ignore and I knew that I was ready to throw everything into pursuing my own work.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am very much a jack of all trades type of artist. I work in graphic design, chalk art, animation and even print-making. However, my passion for whimsical illustration always seeps into my work. I love pushing each project to include unusual elements and am continuously pursuing clever and imaginative details. I find that even when working on wedding invitations or corporate logos, I am always considering what can make a piece that much more unpredictable and exciting. Illustration is an amazing space for this kind of imagery and is definitely a focus of my career. The project I am currently most excited about is a collaborative effort combining children’s songs lyrics (by local band Animal Farm) with illustration. This collaboration is an amazing exercise in finding the best imagery to not only tell the story behind the lyrics but also to capture the style of music associated with each song. Because I love working in so many different mediums, I often start with traditional materials such as pen, ink, paint, and chalk and then enhance their presentation through technology such as digital drawing, laser cutting, large-scale printing, and animating. The combination of analog and digital art creates something that wonderfully blends traditional craft with our modern world and I love exploring how to use this style in a huge variety of commissions.
Like many artists, I got to where I am today due to an overwhelming passion and drive to create. There is no easy way to be an artist. You really must want to do it and if you do, it is an amazing career with so many different paths and opportunities to explore.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am amazed with all the fabulous art events Denver has to offer so we would start there! We would explore the Denver Art Museum and stop at Leven Deli for one of the best Reubens in town. We would spend a First Friday at the Arts District on Santa Fe complete with mango margaritas at El Noa Noa. To explore the coffee house art scene, we would spend a morning at Pablo’s Coffee on 6th for great drinks, even better people and top-notch art shows. We would also enjoy a stroll through the Rhino Arts District to see new murals and outdoor food patios. Finally, as someone who absolutely loves hot water, saunas, and steam I would make sure we found time to unwind at my favorite spot Lakesteam. We may even make the drive to the vapor caves at Indian Hot Springs in Idaho Springs with a quick hike out in Golden or Evergreen so they really had the full Colorado experience.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I definitely want to dedicate this Shoutout to my two greatest mentors, Stella Yu and Amy Banker. Stella was the founder and original Executive Director of Arts Street, a Denver non-profit that works with under-served, high school age youth, teaching them the value and potential in the creative industries. Not only did she give me my first job when I was in high school, but she later hired me as a summer teacher for the non-profit when I was struggling to find creative career opportunities. I worked with Stella for a little over 2 years where she taught me the ins and outs of the non-profit world, as well as the inner workings of many creative industries. When she retired in 2016, Arts Street became part of the Youth Employment Academy, spear headed by Amy Banker. Amy’s giant heart and amazing ability to empower both youth participants and her staff was also extremely instrumental in getting me to where I am today. She challenged me to take on larger and larger creative projects with our youth teams, trusted me to lead amazing public art commissions and was always a champion for the power of the creativity. She taught me so much about challenging oneself to reach for big goals and using art as a vehicle for empowerment, justice, and community.

Website: https://www.chelsearomaniello.com/

Instagram: sea_romanie

Image Credits
Laura Leonello