Silhouettes by Erik

I found Silhouettes by Erik (3^rd Generation Silhouette Artist) at an event hosted by La La Land in Elmhurst. I had also seen that there was a similar event hosted by another one of my favorite kid stores – Psycho Baby in Chicago. I remember sitting for a silhouette portrait when I was 5 years old and that picture hung in my parents house for years (sadly, I don’t know what happened to it). So I thought a silhouette portrait of my son, would be a great gift to the grandparents! When I called to schedule my time, La La Land said it would only take 5 minutes. I said, Um, my son is 15 mos old, he doesn’t know how to sit still yet. She assured me it would only take 5 minutes. Really? 5 minutes? I went ahead and scheduled it.
Armed with toys, a bottle of juice and his favorite stuffed animal, I thought I’d have to entertain the Bubs during the whole time to be able to get this done. Boy was I wrong. Erik had it set up so the kids sit on a stool and watch a DVD (Finding Elmo on this particular day), that way he has clear view of his profile. And then he cut out his silhouette on black paper. WHAT? yes, cut out the silhouette FREE HAND while I made sure the bubs didn’t wander off the stool to play with La La Land’s toys. They were right, It took about 5 – 10 minutes from beginning to end.
Although the heads of the little boy portraits are similar (pictures on his FB page), he really captured the shape of the Bubs nose and lips and the new cowlick that has developed since a recent hair cut. I purchased a few frames from Erik to make the present complete. With the frames and the silhouettes, these gifts are not cheap. Dropped almost a Benjamin for 3 silhouettes and 2 frames. But I’d do it again in a heartbeat to get a unique portrait and/​or gift. His business card says he works at children’s boutiques, preschools, special events, parties and weddings. This would be a great to have at a future birthday party for the bubs. Very talented.
No place to add this on the business page, but you can find him on