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By Leanne Mirandilla | November 7th, 2017

An elevator convo with Elsa Jean de Dieu. See here for more from our Next Up series.

What do you do?

I’m a wall artist or mural artist. I specialize in creating unique wall finishes and textures, as well as creative murals and illustrations using different types of special paints, plasters, metal leaves, and many other types of materials! It’s a really creative job, and I love the challenge of experimenting with different tools and materials to achieve new artistic effects.

How does your business work?

We are a team of four female artists (girl power!), and we work directly with designers, brands, and private clients to create custom artwork for their projects. It often is a collaborative effort between us and the designers, and we love to brainstorm the best types of art and paint effects that can create the atmosphere or impact that the client wants for their space. Generally, I meet with the client first to get an understanding of their design and concept, then I go back to my workshop to develop samples, mood boards, and drawings of our proposed artwork. There is usually some back and forth, and once everyone is happy with the design our team goes to the site to make the artwork. We do all of the artwork ourselves, even for very large-scale projects that can go up to 300 square meters in size.

How did your business get started?

I started working as an artist for a company when I was still back in France, and it was always a dream of mine to work on my own and open my own studio. I moved to Hong Kong in 2008 to work with a local art company, and in 2015 I decided to take a leap of faith and set up my own studio, Elsa Jeandedieu Studio.

Who are your clients?

Our clients can be F&B venues, retail, commercial, residential… We do a lot of luxury finishes, so we tend to work on high-end projects as well. Some of our most recent projects include the new MEATS restaurant by the Pirata Group, the new Pure Yoga Pacific Place, and WeWork co-working space in Beijing.

What is a day in your working life like?

Very eclectic, never the same, but always challenging and fun. I could be creating artwork onsite, or having meetings with designers, prepping samples, developing concepts, training my team — and oftentimes doing all of this in one day! It’s challenging, but I love it. I really enjoy being able to focus but also switch from one aspect of my job to another. It’s impossible to get bored doing what I do.

Where do you see your business in the future?

It’s really hard to predict. I’m already very happy with what we are doing and what we have for now. I do have ambitions for the future, but I’m also learning to enjoy my life without any expectations and to take what each day brings. Maybe in five years I would love to have a bigger team of artists, with more big creative projects… and to be able to take more holidays!

    • By Leanne Mirandilla | November 7th, 2017

    An elevator convo with Elsa Jean de Dieu. See here for more from our Next Up series.

    What do you do?

    I’m a wall artist or mural artist. I specialize in creating unique wall finishes and textures, as well as creative murals and illustrations using different types of special paints, plasters, metal leaves, and many other types of materials! It’s a really creative job, and I love the challenge of experimenting with different tools and materials to achieve new artistic effects.

    How does your business work?

    We are a team of four female artists (girl power!), and we work directly with designers, brands, and private clients to create custom artwork for their projects. It often is a collaborative effort between us and the designers, and we love to brainstorm the best types of art and paint effects that can create the atmosphere or impact that the client wants for their space. Generally, I meet with the client first to get an understanding of their design and concept, then I go back to my workshop to develop samples, mood boards, and drawings of our proposed artwork. There is usually some back and forth, and once everyone is happy with the design our team goes to the site to make the artwork. We do all of the artwork ourselves, even for very large-scale projects that can go up to 300 square meters in size.

    How did your business get started?

    I started working as an artist for a company when I was still back in France, and it was always a dream of mine to work on my own and open my own studio. I moved to Hong Kong in 2008 to work with a local art company, and in 2015 I decided to take a leap of faith and set up my own studio, Elsa Jeandedieu Studio.

    Who are your clients?

    Our clients can be F&B venues, retail, commercial, residential… We do a lot of luxury finishes, so we tend to work on high-end projects as well. Some of our most recent projects include the new MEATS restaurant by the Pirata Group, the new Pure Yoga Pacific Place, and WeWork co-working space in Beijing.

    What is a day in your working life like?

    Very eclectic, never the same, but always challenging and fun. I could be creating artwork onsite, or having meetings with designers, prepping samples, developing concepts, training my team — and oftentimes doing all of this in one day! It’s challenging, but I love it. I really enjoy being able to focus but also switch from one aspect of my job to another. It’s impossible to get bored doing what I do.

    Where do you see your business in the future?

    It’s really hard to predict. I’m already very happy with what we are doing and what we have for now. I do have ambitions for the future, but I’m also learning to enjoy my life without any expectations and to take what each day brings. Maybe in five years I would love to have a bigger team of artists, with more big creative projects… and to be able to take more holidays!