My name is Elsa Shofner
Hello! My name is Elsa Shofner, and I'm so excited to express myself in all my authenticity to you.
I have always been drawn to the arts from a very young age - progressing from my scribbled picture books and short stories that I would make with my siblings growing up, to the classical/baroque inspired pieces (with a hint of a cinematic, illustrative feel) that I create today - alongside my writing of Locust Woods, a fantasy series I began forming when I was twelve. For me, art has always taken form as a sense of connection and communication, a sense of belonging to one another, even when times would get lonely. I have been and always will be a storyteller for this reason: to remind others that they are seen and understood.
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Due to my being late-diagnosed autistic - something that is becoming more and more understood and discovered in women of my generation - growing up without the diagnosis I needed often made me feel too different, too odd compared to everyone else. I rarely felt understood by others, and as much as I would try to adjust myself to society's social standards, I often felt that I couldn't understand myself, or express myself in a social setting that would fully be revealed to others what was really going on inside my mind. Because I was undiagnosed until I was nineteen, I had grown up thinking that everyone else, more or less, was going through or had gone through the same thoughts, feelings and experiences that I had gone through, but still, everyone else seemed to be managing life far better than I felt I ever could. I had a constant internal conflict in my pursuit of 'fitting in', of 'being good enough', which made me feel alienated.
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Even still, I wouldn't have changed my experience in growing up this way at all. I'm grateful for the better understanding I have of myself now, as I'm better able to accept the differences that I have as an autistic woman, and I want to better educate others on what autism can look and feel like, especially since it 'hides much better' in women. Because of my diagnosis, I'm starting to see myself in everything.
Though I think it's important to discuss my experiences of this aspect of me, my autism is not all that I am about. Still, I think it's not only worth it to express that I exist as an autistic person, but also that my experience in it has played it's role in every ounce of creativity I have. My experience has driven the whole story of Locust Woods, which you will notice further down the page.
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Though I can at times struggle to relate to those around me, I have found the best ways I can recognize myself and share myself are in writing, illustration, and animation. Through these mediums, I want to help others find their own way to express themselves by sharing my own comfort and struggles in finding the best way to discover myself in a world that almost constantly seems out of rhythm.
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I do my best to find and show rhythm in the world, and so I find my own purpose in this way.
What do I mean by authenticity?
Notice the theme of stars on my website? It has many meanings throughout my art. In my fantasy series Locust Woods, the stars are often referred to as angels carrying art and culture on their wings, gifting it to humanity - so from there we can take the symbol of the star as an artists gift of nature. For me personally, it has a more prominent nature that has taken it's hold on me in recent times.
Due to my being a late diagnosed autistic woman, I grew up in a way where I often felt like I was too different for the majority of people, and I had subconsciously built so many walls around myself as a form of protection - it wasn't until recently that I discovered that I had negatively distinguished myself from those around me due to these walls, out of a hidden fear that my inner glow would be easily outshone by others. A fear that I would never be 'enough', fear that I would never truly 'do good' or 'be good'. I had donned a thick, steel armor of fear, and it had grown heavy on me, burdening me, weighing me down. And I wanted to get rid of it, to shed the past and be born anew - and so after much effort, much vulnerability to myself and those who give me unconditional love, I found cracks in the walls, felt the weight beginning to lift. And so I envisioned it, my heart and soul being a star, shining brilliantly through the cracks. And so I realized that this was a way that I wanted to show to others that they could find their authentic selves too, that they are good and capable as they are. I wanted to show that if I could pursue whatever touched my soul and if I was brave enough to show it, then anyone else can too, and I find that to be beautiful. I find that it connects us, and that it's another example as to how no one is ever really alone.
I am grateful for the people around me who helped me to realize this and find peace in this, as they have helped me to discover a way to find my authentic self - to shed the armor of fear and fully express myself in all the gratitude and unconditional love I have to share. This milestone in my journey, of course, has helped me to nurture the way I create more. It pushed me to finally make and publish the website of my dreams.
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In short, I find authenticity to be the untapped love and full artistic expression I have to give to others, whether they want to feel it or not - because it's all the real me, and I don't want it to be molded by the algorithms of social media any longer. It's part of my mission as a creative to let others know that they are enough, that they are good for themselves and others. It's all a matter of perspective, and I'm changing that perspective for myself more and more everyday.
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Through this website, and any creative endeavor I undergo (especially Locust Woods, where I feel I can reach people the most) I'm going to pursue anything that will let that light continue shining brightly, both for me and in hopes for others to be inspired to not judge themselves so harshly, to let their own starlight shine brilliantly. To shine like the stars in Locust Woods. Authenticity - the real shine within me.
Locust Woods?
At it's very base level, Locust Woods is a story about humanity. That seems a given, due to the world having it's own mythology that reflects mankind's dreams, beliefs, instincts and fears - but that's not exactly what I mean when I say the story is about humanity.
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It's about connection, on every level. It's the rejection and completion of feeling singular, alien, the feeling of standing out like a sore thumb amongst your peers. No being is so different from the next. No being is devoid of the responsibility of living the way they were meant to live. Some believe that it is Fate that has decided their path, or maybe an authority figure. Others feel that they are more guided by those surrounding them, acting out of love, generosity, respect. The passing of wills. What is placed upon us is not what makes us human. Rather, it is what actions we enact upon ourselves, for ourselves and each other that makes us human, those very messages repeating themselves amongst our histories, echoing in our myths, tales, songs, legends. In all of our eras, mankind has always chosen to be human, despite everything. Mankind has never changed, though at times it can feel like it.
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Locust Woods is meant to be a reminder. A reminder of purpose.
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When the world feels dark, blinding, chaotic and stagnant, it is often easy to forget our connection to one another, our connection to ourselves. It is often easy to forget that we exist as one people in a wild, natural world. Thus, the introduction of Man and Beast.
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In a world thriving on steel, smoke, schedules and sums, it is easy to forget where mankind once came from. When did Man forget Beast? Why did Man separate itself from Beast, making the other half of a whole? After all, one cannot exist without the other. Some of mankind believes that it has mastered the taming of Beast, but often it has been shown that Beast can tame Man - from the overcoming of nature against skyscraper, a wolf's jaws against precious livestock, and the bond of a shepherd and his herd - bringing Man down to Beast's level of connection. The innately wild side of mankind, oft forgot and shut out in this busy, constricted world.
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And this connection must be reforged. This purpose of existence itself, must be reforged.
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Humanity has always shone out like starlight. That's what Hugo Lamb realized, so moved as he was in the art museum, looking at the glories and miseries of mankind, overcome by the feeling that he was a human being, just like the rest of them. For Hugo this was almost a foreign concept, as he had grown up with the overwhelming feeling that he was different, too different. Maybe there was some truth to that for his peers, but for himself, he knew that somehow he was different, as no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember or even speak of his own mother. Still, he knew he had to have had one, had to have one care for him, watch over him, help him grow and thrive to become the young man he is today. When his mind would allow these thoughts to take form, though blocked and muted as they were, it added to his feelings of singularity, and when his body would allow these words to be shaped into existence, the conversations made to his father would be forgotten between the two of them. And so Hugo's spirit was undiscovered and split. Hugo did not truly know himself, and was afraid that he would not ever truly know himself. Yet, he refused to let anyone tell him who he was.
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Self discovery began with a phone call, and a return to a childhood home. A return to roots as Hugo prepares for his mother's funeral in the town of Locust, yet everything is limited. Hugo feels limited himself as he struggles to discover himself and his mother were - and are - more than ever, yet something inside Locust Woods calls him home.
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Upon the night of his seventeenth birthday, Fate comes for Hugo, and Hugo - with the aid of his mother's spirit, Rainn, the last star to exist - denies Fate's claim over him. Rainn, whose words are muted just as Hugo's thoughts have been, hurriedly leads Hugo into the woods, fading as the sun rises. It is there on his first entrance into the woods that Hugo is attacked by a strong force of water, controlled by a large, wolf-like creature with a human-like mind named Luna. Through much trial and error, Hugo discovers through Luna that he is now in the realm known as the Overgrowth, where Beast resides amidst Man's echoes of humanity. These monuments of mankind's personal feats, and those once shared with Beast, dot the wilderness of the Overgrowth - once cherished and now forgotten by Luna's people, the Aplechians. Though the ancient culture and rich histories of her people are being stamped out and burned by the Faeverd, faerie-grown trees that suffocate the landscape of the woods, Luna hopes to recover her memories of her and her people's past, to discover why those around her have been separated from their people's culture, and why she is made to feel different from her peers. Hugo decides to join her on her path, in spite of the muting of memories from those they descended from, with his own hopes of discovering who he and his mother are, why he was led to the Overgrowth, and whether or not he could truly fend off Fate for good.
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In the series of events that follow Hugo and Luna's shared companionship, they begin to learn as to what their existence really means - for themselves, for the past, and the histories that are to follow. Breaking down their walls and reforging themselves anew. They begin to discover what Man and Beast really were and still are, where Man and Beast came from - and how Fate came to be.
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If Fate came into existence, who made Fate? Who controls Fate, really? And so, who controls Man and Beast?
Inspirations?
My most favorite way to write is through the use of poetic themes and metaphors. I really enjoy the way they can layer on top of each other, adding rhythm and depth to a story that affects how it's understood by each and every individual that reads it. I am especially inspired by this when it is paired with the persistence of the human spirit and the overwhelming power of nature - and alongside the human spirit and power of nature, is the presence of Fate and it's role in storytelling.
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I am heavily enamored by the concept of Fate, the idea that there is a sheer purpose for things to naturally occur as they should. The very idea that you can't stop what is happening to you, but you can change how you react to it. What do you do when the world feels against you? Do you go against the world, or do you go against yourself? I love to play around with this concept the most, especially in character writing. I also greatly enjoy the idea of breaking that "natural order" of things in order to get a sense of self, a connection to your own personal freedoms. The choice to pursue the impossible, the unimaginable dreams. The deliberate decision to overcome. To do something about the limitations of your own personal world. This all ties into the passion, the persistence of the human spirit.
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The fight between Good vs Evil is yet another concept that I adore, and one that I heavily grew up on, no less. Still, I enjoy it the most as the idea that mankind is not inherently good or bad, though there are those who possess one quality more than the other. I pair this often with the messages that I take away the most from Man vs Nature, the very idea that mankind is just as wild as nature. When this concept is taken into storytelling, this innate personality of mankind, mankind overcomes and becomes whole with his being. If Man acts on the basis of his true heart, with true intentions, true will, balance restores. This all ties into my fascination with mythology and folklore. We as a human species have always been drawn to tales of natural justice alongside our connection to ourselves and the world around us. We have even built cultures and societies around it. It is what makes us who we are.
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Even still, I enjoy the concept of the madness and desperation of mankind, the desire to have the feats of your life, the ideas of your personal being and those of your generation to be felt and remembered forevermore. The need to show all that you are, to bring about the message of your purpose, or to seek out the purpose you so desperately wish to have - some even seeking out the purpose they think they must have, a purpose that was placed upon them by others; the willingness to prove oneself. I see how this connects us together as a people, even if it can also bring us apart as we chase down our dreams and goals. It's something I greatly enjoy seeing and analyzing, as it appears in our histories, our folklore, and the stories that we tell today. The desire to know and be known has always been with us.
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Most of all, though, I take pride in the driving force of love. Love, in all its forms and in my mind, is what really binds us together, that shared connection of hopes and dreams, the carrying of one another's will as we struggle on for the other. As we struggle on for ourselves. Love is what carries our stories on from one generation to the next. Love, juxtaposed with regret, is the reason for the majority of our histories. The love and stories shared between our ancestors is what makes us the people that we are today. It's our connection to it that helps us figure out our own personal journey's. It's our love for love that allows us to continue being bound together, that keeps our innate drive to simply become absolutely intact, as one.
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When I write, I hope to convey these messages of self love, self perception, and self connection and how those feelings help bind us together in times of darkness and chaos. I take on these themes so that I can invoke a story about how no one is every truly alone and singular in a discordant world, that everything has a purpose for you and you have a purpose for it. It's all about connection to ourselves and one another.
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It's all about the human spirit.
Animation?
Back in 2023, I received a certification for my studying of 2D animation at a trade school for two years. During the time I was studying and up until early 2025, I had been too busy with work and education - or too creatively burnt out by the time I did have enough energy to work on animation - to progress with it at home. Now, it is one of my goals to fix this. Little by little, I hope to reform my passion for animation and make it one of my strengths, rather than being nervous about how the end product could look.
I'm grateful I have a basic understanding of how 2D animation works, and I can't wait to insert my own characters from Locust Woods into the medium. The progress will be slow as I work on the many other projects you will see on this site, but I would love to share my progress with you, whether I struggle or not.
Address
2524 N Broadway Ste 554
PMB 126324
Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-4172 US