Our Artists

I was born and raised in Midland, Texas. I came to Austin to attend UT, after short detours through San Antonio and London, England. I started out as an art major, but graduated with a degree in Fashion Design from UT. Since then, I have worked as costume designer, a bridal gown designer, a visual merchandiser, and an artist while continuing to take art classes in drawing, painting, and pottery. In my spare time I enjoying painting, collage, encaustics and now, 3D modeling and rendering. I am a hard-core ‘casual’ gamer, with a love of vintage clothing and a passion for science fiction.

Erin has worked for Painting with a Twist since 2009 when the North Austin studio opened. She now manages the North Austin and Round Rock studios. Erin has her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the University of North Texas. In her personal work she paints large scale oil paintings and works as a part time scenic artist for Zach Theatre. She also enjoys cooking, gardening and being a mother.

Ryan Runcie has been a part of the Painting with a Twist family since 2013. He received his BFA from Texas State University in visual communication design. His personal work scales from portraiture paintings to commissioned residential and commercial large scale murals. His work can be found at ryanruncie.com or @ryan_runcie on instagram.

Shelby Elizabeth is an illustrator living and working in Austin, Texas. In 2010, she received her BFA in Illustration with Honors from Ringling College of Art and Design. In addition to painting, Shelby spends her time working in other traditional mediums, such as ink and watercolor painting, creating illustrations to accompany and breathe new life into fables and modern lore. In her free time, she enjoys embroidery, friends, and all things bizarre and beautiful.

Gil Pena is an artist/writer/filmmaker who has worked professionally for various comic book and computer game companies, including Dark Horse Comics, DC Comics, EA, Virgin, and Origin Systems. Gil is currently working as a freelance video editor and motion graphics designer.

I am a painter and illustrator originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. Much of my work is inspired by animal behavior. I love bold, beautiful color, fluid lines, and starry night skies! Prior to moving to Austin, I worked in TV production as an Associate Producer and Executive Assistant. Creating art brings me a lot of joy and I love being able to help people who are painting for the first time! You can see more of my work on Instagram: @peacelovemanatee.

Kelsey Jenkinson grew up in Anchorage Alaska, where she learned to love nature and hate the cold. Kelsey received her BFA in painting from Kansas City Art Institute in 2009, and moved to Austin in 2010, trying to stay warm. Her paintings are inspired by nature and the surrealists. She enjoys coffee, books and podcasts, and is mother to one boy and two cats.

Hi! My name is Chancellor. I'm an artist from south east Texas. I've been painting with acrylics for about 11 years and instructing for about 4 years. My work is abstract/ psychedelic nature. I work with ink, acrylic and gouache on canvas, metal, paper and tempered hardwood. I can also paint on walls for murals both indoors and outdoors. You can find my work at Instagram.com/chancearts

James Talon is the Art Director and Producer for the social MMO Furcadia. He has a degree in Linguistics and has earned many awards for his drawings and paintings over the years, though his favorite achievement of those was winning the gold seal in Texas State VASE in 9th grade by submitting a huge photo print of a tiny Chihuahua attacking the camera. James learned to love different cultures after living in Bydgoszcz, Poland for a year, but he doesn't recommend eating the duck blood soup. He's also participated in a cowboy mounted shooting (horseback riding with pistols) competition among other things and taught kids how to face off cows on horseback. For gardening as much as he loves it, he has the opposite of a green thumb, but he can't decide if that means he has a black thumb or not because in art theory the opposite would be a red thumb. His handle on instagram is james.talon.art if you want to see some of his artwork!

I see myself as a jack of all trades. I dabble in portrait photography, painting, illustration, logo design, embroidery, and I'm a hot-glue-gun master. I love creating art crafts with my kids and hand-made gifts for my family. I have a bachelor's degree in fine arts and another in computer science for animation. To me, teaching art to those around me is a perfectly wonderful way to spread joy in this world and one day I hope to be a children's book illustrator.