my story

3114 started as a little dream when I was in high school. I spent most of my formative schooling years getting in trouble for drawing instead of paying attention in class. My notebooks, tests, books were all smothered with the visual versions of my thoughts. I plastered my art along every wall in my room, much to my dad's dismay (I did my fair share of damage to the freshly painted walls). One day it occurred to me that I could actually make something of these doodles that were occupying my time. One family holiday, I sat with my uncle (who is very talented and well versed in the field of clothing design) and laid out my idea. He showed me how to adjust the photos of my art and put them on silhouettes of the apparel. We came up with a sort of mock sheet that was printed on a regular piece of printer paper and folded into my sketchbook for safe keeping. 

The name 3114 was born from a narcissistic idea of wanting to inconspicuously incorporate my name into the brand. The same way a little boy would use a calculator to spell out "boobs" with the numbers, 3114 spells "ella". Obviously I know that the idea of that is a bit of a reach for some, but it really isn't that deep. It's sort of one of those secret things some people know and some don't. Regardless 3114 became the title of the brand that stuck with me from age fourteen to now my current age of twenty. 

In those years between, plenty went on to pull me away from the idea of turning my art into something. Discouragement from peers and other adults, giving the classic "art isn't a job" speech. High school went on and the idea of creating a business, let alone one based off my doodles seemed like the biggest reach possible. The pandemic and applying for colleges was when I finally came to my senses and realized that maybe I didn't want to go to my local college and major in science like many of my classmates were doing. I started looking into art schools and other schools with majors in studio/visual arts. somewhere during these months life took a bit of a turn (even more than it had been) and I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa. My world flipped upside down and all aspects of creativity were instead replaced by an all consuming thoughts of fear and food. In times were I tried to create art (the thing that once brought great peace to me), I was instead faced with absolutely nothing. It was if my mind had gone completely blank, except for the ever nagging thought of how much I hated myself.  

The decision to recover from my eating disorder was the best decision I (and everyone else supporting me) ever have made. within a few weeks of properly nourishing myself, I was not only physically better, but I also had back my creative spark and a bit of zest for life. I remember the first thing I sat down and drew was a cartoon dog with a small speech bubble reading "I am very happy right now". This small dog became like a visual of my innermost thoughts. Throughout all the ups and downs I faced in my journey, art got me through them. In many of my pieces from that time period that small, round dog is featured, usually with a speech bubble stating whatever was on my mind. It became my therapy and was pretty much my most reliable way of getting my feelings out at the time. 

I ended up attending college a few short months later in the fall of 2021, majoring in visual arts with a focus on painting and drawing. The honeymoon phase of college was great. Here I was surrounded by people who also believed that art could be a career. As time went on, the magic affect of it all seemed to wear off and I was faced with stress, creative burnout and loss of self. I began to relapse pretty hard into old habits and by November I had completely dropped out and moved back home.

I faced so much embarrassment and guilt for leaving, little did I know it would become one of  the best decisions for me. In the first few weeks at home I struggled with the constant battle of "now what". Now what was I going to do? I started sharing old pieces from my sketchbook from the beginning of that summer. Pieces that were dark snippets from my mind that I never thought anyone would see. I started getting messages from people I knew and people I didn't know about how my art spoke to them in ways they thought no one else knew. This reignited a fire within me and I began to create again. 

Over the last year I've participated in makers markets, drawn custom pieces, featured in coffee shops and motels and had my fair share of trial and error with creating my own t shirts. I recently (finally) invested in the proper equipment and resources, and finally felt truly ready to go all in with 3114. To this day, I still carry around that little piece of paper with all my original mock up designs from the little mind of fourteen year old me. 

Here is 3114 and this is just the beginning. 

💌 Ella