Cover Artist: Elliott From

By Gina Malone

Elliott From’s father owned a retail store when his son was growing up in the northern suburbs of Chicago. “My father did well in retail and the neighborhood loved him, but in his heart he was an artist, mastering oil painting with fine details,” says Elliott. “From an early age, I would watch him paint and he would hand me paintbrushes and I would create whatever image came to mind. I took art classes from grade school through high school, so when the option of college studies arose, my natural inclination was to get a degree in art. Nothing else held interest for me—I wanted only to create art.”

While his father’s work tended toward impressionistic landscapes and clowns, Elliott found, at Bradley University in Illinois, that realistic art was not for him. “I just didn’t relate,” he says. “I needed something else to nourish my own artistic hunger. I developed my own type of art related to the Abstract Expressionism artists of the ‘50s. I enjoyed the freedom of throwing paint, splattering paint, layering paint to create color fields within compositions that lured me in, excited me.”

When an art professor encouraged him in his creativity, but advised the embrace as well of a surer means of earning money, Elliott chose graphic design. He worked in the advertising and publishing industries, married and had children, but did not give up his art. “Outside of the full-time gig, I always had a small working studio to continue my true love of creating art,” he says. “Being a full-time artist, at that time, didn’t seem like a possibility. So I painted and drew whenever I could.”

In 2006, when he and his wife divorced, he reassessed his life, and took a friend’s suggestion to consider performance painting. “I took the next few days to do some research and explored the art of performance painting or the subset they now call Speed Painting,” Elliott says. “I started slow and spread the word of my new path and through word of mouth I would get a performance here and there. It was in late 2009 when I did a performance for a charity event and the winner of the painting was the director of the morning news for WGN, a major TV and radio network in Chicago. A week after the event she called me and asked me to perform on the morning news. That was the big break I needed.”

After that 20 minutes of air time, he says, he began receiving inquiries about performance art, especially for charity and non-profit events. “It was then that I knew I would use my art as an avenue to raise money for those in need,” Elliott says. In 2010, he performed at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, and by spring of that same year he had developed a working relationship with the Chicago Blackhawks.

“Chicago fans are devoted and crazy!” he says. “They had me paint the iconic Blackhawks logo live, style and speed on display, finishing the painting in a matter of minutes. It was a huge hit with the fans and the team alike. They requested I perform for the playoff run, and they ended up winning the beloved Stanley Cup. That was incredibly fortuitous for me and my work.”

A demand for his talents followed and, to date, he says he has helped raise more than $5 million for nonprofits and has worked for corporations, celebrities and major sporting events. “I’ve been lucky to call Elliott one of my best friends since our college days,” says David Bard. “It’s been amazing to watch his creativity and talent grow over the years, turning his passion for art into something that inspires people all over the world. What makes me most proud is seeing how he uses his work to give back, helping raise support for charitable causes and making a real difference in communities everywhere.”

Elliott and his partner Trish moved to Asheville just two weeks before Hurricane Helene hit. “We knew despite, and maybe because of, the stormy, uncertain start it was where we belonged,” he says. “I find Asheville exciting. It reminds me very much of the downtown neighborhoods of Chicago. I gravitated towards having my studio downtown because of that. I enjoy the people walking downtown, a mix of locals and tourists.” Artbeat Gallery & Lounge opened in April 2025.

Although his bold, large and colorful style of painting has remained steadfast through the years, his subjects change as inspirations find him. “The Dazie paintings evolved out of the hurricane,” he says. “Asheville was destroyed, but new growth is happening and I wanted a subject matter of growth and happiness. So the Dazies came to me. It’s the most accepted art I have done. With bold colors, gestural splattering and dripping, the paintings appeal to everyone.” He generally paints on medium-sized to large (4’ x 5’) canvases and uses acrylics and house paint.

In July, he introduces a new concept: Artbeat Drop. On the first and third Thursdays of each month, he will release small, curated collections of six to ten original works, all priced at $350 and available online and in the gallery. “The goal is simple,” he says, “to create a moment around art, to remove the barrier of pricing and to give both locals and visitors the opportunity to connect with and own an original piece in a relaxed, approachable environment.”

Elliott From’s work is available exclusively at Artbeat Gallery & Lounge, located at 56 Haywood Street, in downtown Asheville. Learn more at ArtbeatLive.com and on Instagram @elliottfromart.