Ellen rubs shoulders with host of celebrities (From Echo)

Thundersley artist rubs shoulders with host of celebrities including Paul McCartney and Tara Palmer-Tomkinson

10:00am Sunday 15th July 2012 in News

FROM conference calls with Paul McCartney to designing T-shirts with Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, and hanging around with Take That, Ellen Wright has done it all.

She may be only 27, but the creative artist from Rayleigh Road, Thundersley, has a bursting portfolio of work As a creative art director, she produces adverts for big name companies, comes up with brands, designs clothing lines and even makes puppets in her spare time.

The former Deanes School, Thundersley, pupil was asked to come up with some stage animations for the backdrop of Sir Paul McCartney’s American tour.

Ellen, who gained a degree in graphic design at Camberwell University, explained: “The brief was just to do some sketching for the Ob-la-di classic hit. I thought I would go with the lyrics, draw a character called Desmond with a barrow in the marketplace and stuff like that.

“But then I sat in on a conference call with Sir Paul. It was so surreal. I’ve been a Beatles fan all my life and to sit in an office with him on the other line was just incredible.

“He quickly made it clear to me he didn’t want any animations that referenced the lyrics of Ob-la-di, so I had my work cut out!”

The results of Ellen’s work was showcased to the world on the night of the Queen’s Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace.

As Sir Paul took to the stage to belt out Ob-La-Di, the graphics created by Ellen were blasted out on the screen behind him as megastars like Dame Shirley Bassey and Stevie Wonder joined Macca on stage.

Ellen said: “I was so proud.”

She also got to accompany Take That on tour after designing all the posters for the band’s Circus concerts.

Ellen said:“They were all really nice men – a bit old though. They weren’t into partying.”

She also used her creative touch to design a range of T-shirts for socialite Tara Palmer-Tomkinson’s company Three’s A Crowd.

Single Ellen said: “She was crazy. But it was fun. They sold really well.”

But it’s not all showbiz. One of her recent projects was creating a “brand” for Cancer Research. Ellen came up with the concept of “mix and match”, making giant posters which could be literally swapped around and are now on charity shop windows, to show shoppers the fun in bargain hunting.

Now she has turned her hand to creating her own range of hand puppets.

“I can’t sit still for one minute, I’m always doing something,” she said.

Ellen has been exhibiting her artwork since the age of nine, when some of her sketches went on show in the Beecroft Art Gallery in Southend.

Inside her cosy Benfleet studio hangs one of her earliest sketches, of her absolute hero, David Bowie.

She said: “He is my idol. He has inspired me so much. Music and art have made me what I am today. I’ve met a lot of famous people so far, but not David Bowie. That’s my next mission.”