Jared Ellis was born and raised in British Columbia, Canada. It is here that he developed and refined his own acute visual vocabulary as well as his choice to use wood and steel as central components in his work. A quick peek into his mind would inform who and what influenced his craft. His father: an educator and builder, taught Jared at a young age how to use tools in his shop, his birth place: a small lumber mill town and the Pacific Northwest: the materials unique to this region. He also attributes his inclination to art to the belief that it really is an extension of who he is.
Jared received his B.F.A. from University of Victoria in Canada. Subsequent to that, he attended the Post-Graduate Program in Sculpture at Brigham Young University in Utah. In 2006, he independently travelled to New Zealand to learn carving under Rangi Kipa, a Maori artist whose work is at the fore of contemporary and traditional Maori art; and James Te Kuiti Stewart, also a carver in his own right. To further pursue his love for education and constant self-improvement, Jared attended Pilchuck Glass School in Washington, an international center for glass art education, first as a student and then as a wood and metal shop coordinator, a seasonal staff position he has been enjoying since.
He lives in Salt Lake City and works in Orem.
