'More than art camp': Heather Young and Tate Ellington tackle life, motherhood together with art

Artist Heather Young’s home studio is a sunroom that looks out over the forest that extends beyond her backyard. It’s about 15 by 20 feet, with a glass ceiling and glass walls on three sides, and boasts a large collection of potted plants.

At the center of the chamber are two long tables laid end-to-end, covered with art projects and the telltale signs of the art that has previously been made on the spot, like paint splotches, tape remnants, and Exacto blade overcuts. In one corner of the space, where the glass wall transitions into brick, are hung numerous artworks, some by Young and some by her children, as well as another well-worn worktable.

Oftentimes, in addition to the artist herself, you’ll also find her good friend and fellow creator Tate Ellington, and Tate’s ten-month-old daughter Iris, seated at those center tables, working on paintings or drawings for an upcoming show.

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Welcome to Mom Art Camp.

“We met and became friends,” Ellington explained of the origins of their now-regular art-making get-togethers. “And then we started meeting more at the shows, like at Location Gallery and then Arts on the Coast. And then we just kind of decided, hey, we should meet outside and paint together.”

“I was such a fangirl [of Ellington’s work],” Young recalled. “Because we had been kind of following each other on Instagram and I was like, man, I just think Tate is such a cool chick.”

The meet-ups usually go something like this: Ellington, who lives in Pooler, drops her son Wallie off at school, and then makes the trek over to Young’s Richmond Hill studio. For her part, Young’s two kids Elliot and Timothy are similarly occupied in the mornings, and once they head out, she proceeds to make a “fancy” cheese plate for her and Ellington to enjoy while they work. Once the latter arrives, with her adorable, fuzzy-haired sidekick Iris, they have precious few hours before “mom life” picks up again, so they get down to business.

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“It forces us to be productive…not to fall victim to all of the other things that needs to get done,” said Young. “It’s like we’re carving out this time for our art.”

When I stopped by to visit their “camp,” the two were working furiously on completing their pieces for the $300 & Under exhibition at Location Gallery, pieces that were due later that day. As is often the case for the two painters, who are essentially working two full-time jobs, as both the primary caregivers for their children and as professional artists, making a deadline for a show like $300 & Under can be an up to the last minute proposition.

“That’s one thing we have in common,” Ellington said. “We both paint full time and mom full time."

“We talked about it before, feeling caught between two worlds, because you have the stay-at-home moms and the work-at-home moms,” added Young. “And the stay-at-home moms think that you have all this, like, why can’t you come to every play date? And then it’s like you’re working in your home, so every time you walk past your studio, you see something that needs to be done, or every time you walk past your kids room and you see what a disaster it is in there and you see something that needs to be done. So it’s like you never really stop.”

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It’s this common bond, however, that makes Mom Art Camp about so much more than just making art. While discussions about painting techniques, business strategies, and the local art scene are certainly a big part of their dialogue, they also tend to find themselves discussing more personal topics.

“Some days we come out here and it’s less painting and it’s more like let’s just take a mommy timeout,” noted Young.

“I think this year, too, it’s been hard on different levels for personal reasons,” continued Ellington, who is not only navigating a ten-month-old daughter but also the additional challenges of her beautiful son Wallie’s special needs. “So I think we talk about mostly different struggles. Just learning how to adapt in the art scene and with other life changes as well.”

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“There’s nothing competitive about it at all,” Young said. “It’s completely supportive of one another.”

The dividing line between the lives as artists and as moms can’t help but be blurred in the space. Iris is given free range to play as she sees fit, and does just that, sometimes creating art projects of her own. And, as mentioned above, there’s a second table in one corner designed for not only the duos’ own kids to use, but also for any of the many neighborhood kids who frequently stop by to sit down and make their marks.

But at its core, Mom Art Camp is about two friends, sitting side-by-side, working on art and supporting each other.

“It’s more than just art camp,” said Heather. “We’re adulting together.”

“It’s life camp,” Ellington agreed.

Find Heather Young on the web at heatherlyoung.com or on Instagram @Fly_Young_Studio, while Tate Ellngton is @tate.ellington and tateellingtonillustrations.com.

Art off the Air is a companion piece to the radio program “Art on the Air” hosted by Rob Hessler and Gretchen Hilmers. The column can also be found at savannahnow.com/entertainment.

The show airs Wednesdays from 3-4pm on WRUU 107.5 FM Savannah and at WRUU.org.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Heather Young, Tate Ellington make art while the kids play