I had asked Elena Covarrubias Ramsey to chat about their paintings solely based on one they posted over a year ago to their Instagram, @babyknees3000. It was a detailed, family-esque portrait of two Littlest Pet Shop critters– a cat and a dog, painted almost like angels. They looked adoringly at the viewer, glowing green as Jolly Ranchers with the eyes of a child peeking over the orange horizon. To me, the painting encapsulated how, as a kid, I saw so much love reflected back in the painted faces of my toys— how real they were to me– and how my desire to accumulate more of them was that pure form of greed only available to us as children: more spiritual than materialistic. When we decided on “Coming of Age” as our theme for this issue, I reached out to Elena right away. 

Elena is 25 and works as a bartender to pay the bills. For them, time not spent working is dedicated to creativity—either painting or volunteering at Chicago's independent radio station, CHIRP Radio, 107.1. They paint with acrylic the way most artists can only achieve with oil, effortlessly capturing depth and glow, along with their sense of humor. The subjects of their paintings are the kinds of things a child might try to imagine before falling asleep, like a birthday party or the family dog, in the hopes of having dreams about them. We met for sushi to gab.

Where do your paintings take place? Your imagination? Space? The past?

I love that. When I get feedback on a painting during the process I’ve often gotten that it’s giving an underwater vibe, which I am sometimes going for. They definitely take place in this kind of dream world. Maybe in the space between a memory and the feeling that is attached to the memory. The events of the painting are real, but it’s this childhood memory looked at from an adult point of view. 

Are all your paintings images of the past?

Yeah, they all are. 

Can you talk a little bit about your painting, “Watching the Girls Play”

That one is interesting because I usually use really bright colors, this one’s a little darker. It’s such a feminine memory from a birthday party I went to as a kid. We were all playing musical chairs. It was just your typical Mexican backyard birthday party, little kids running around a lot of folding chairs. Just remembering how girly and princessy the theme was, and me just watching, being held by my mom.

Was the party something you felt detached from at the time?

Yes, I think so. I remember being a spectator for sure. So I think the darker colors come from that. You know when you’re a kid and you have to figure out what losing is or what not being a part of something is, but learning to still be able to enjoy it. That’s a different process of feeling. When I was little my mom had a book “How to Raise a Sensitive Child” and I was like, that’s about me, not my brother. I did feel things a little harder. I remember feeling very intensely about being “out” in musical chairs that day. I remember feeling that loss very deeply. But also watching and feeling a part of it as an observer had its own new, beautiful quality to it. 

Are you in all your paintings?

Yes I am, literally. Because I use references that are photos of me as a kid, like in “Dreaming”.

It’s funny how that painting started. It was just an emotional beginning of getting color onto the canvas, and I saw the image of a horse from that. Then in the background I was like, a figure should go here and I had recently found this picture of me from my uncles wedding. It’s baby me holding my Littlest Pet Shop horse, which was my favorite. I was so visibly obsessed with Littlest Pet Shop back then, so it makes me really happy. That’s probably my favorite part of the painting.

Was art a part of your life as a kid?

My mom signed us up for art school one summer when we were little because she was a teacher and I’m sure she was like, get them out of here. It was this little school in Chino Hills, California, which is a place you move out of and realize how weird it was. It was this little art camp called Kids Art, a weeklong art camp. It was so much fun! Something definitely clicked for me there. But after a while I moved away from drawing to play with Littlest Pet Shop and make Youtube videos with them. It was my life. 

My twin brother went on to study art in college, I studied Spanish and Comedic Screenwriting at DePaul. My brother has such a knack for illustration. He’s actually so good it’s frustrating. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve gotten back into art, and started taking classes at Lillstreet Art Center. It’s so funny how his practice has changed too, now he’s moved away from drawing and is now moving to Chicago to do comedy. So we did a little flip flop. 

Where did you see yourself reflected in art when you were young? Other than Littlest Pet Shop.

Definitely gotta hand it to the Barbie movies, Thumbelina. Everything about that movie. That type of animation, that magical quality, the transformations that happen in them definitely spoke to younger me for sure. And I grew up around a bunch of bright colors. I have noticed that I use a color palette that was really prominent to me as a kid. When I grew up it was all seafoam green and coral. My dad is from California and my mom was born in Bogota, Colombia. She’s taught every grade, Spanish and French. She’s always taught at the same school district which is where I went to school in Ontario, California. I romanticize California now, living in Chicago for 9 years. It is kind of like a dream world over there with the light and everything. I feel very blessed to have been able to live there and not pay rent. 

What painters do you look up to?

Recently, at Lillstreet, I took a beginner oil painting class and our teacher had us research living oil painters for references. For his simplicity, I was really drawn to William Schaeuble. He currently shows work at Povos Gallery here in Chicago. He has a very illustrative style, in the sense where it’s kind of doodley. And it’s just so cool because his paintings are massive. He’ll paint these scenes like these two crudely drawn guys at a dinner table and they have really tiny heads and there’s a fish bone on the table and then on the left of the canvas there’s an image of a guy catching a fish and reeling it in. I don’t necessarily gravitate toward that style when making a painting but I appreciate that he can put out the image so clearly. And he looks like he’s having fun. Seeing an artist be so free can always help your practice.

Also, shout out to Rae Klein. I feel like I’m always gravitating toward art that has that glowy quality.

How do you feel before starting a painting?

Before is awesome, because it’s so free. It’s an always changing, very emotion based state of mind when I have a blank canvas, I want to put out these colors that are resonating with how I feel at the moment. Which is a lot of pinks and warmer tones. I’ll usually start there, but then this image will pop in my head. Then I’ll start to map out. Going to Lillstreet has helped with that, learning the fundamentals. It turns out you’ll have a lot more peace if you take the time to have a solid outline or direction, rather than going over and over something.

You have a talent for the balance of realism and surrealism, where you’re able to create a world where it’s totally normal for a horse to be orange and green. What kind of world will your paintings take you next?

In every painting, what feels most fulfilling to me is expressing whatever emotion it is I’m feeling; whether it's the pain of being a sensitive kid or the fact that whatever issue you’re dealing with as an adult can be traced back to little kid stuff. I think that’s a huge part of what motivates me. What I like about painting is the freedom, where it's still a real thing that I’m trying to express, but it exists in this dream world. I’m interested in moving my work forward in a way that still expresses that but is maybe not as literal. Maybe even more abstract. But as for Littlest Pet Shop, I think I’m going to take them with me. I want to keep painting those guys.