Elaine

Elaine has been some kind of Artist for most of her life. She has kept sketch books, drawings and paintings from when she was in her teens. Later, as a primary school teacher creative art was a part of daily life and used in all other subjects.

After teaching she retrained as a Garden Designer running a Garden Design Practice and Garden Design Courses for ten years. She created several award-winning gardens at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show.

After that she completed a HNC in Fine Art then a degree in Photography. Some time later she gained an HNC in Ilustration. The summation of these studies is a creative multimedia Artist who perceives no boudaries in her various interests.

Elaine says, ‘ My artwork is as varied as life itself. As well as photomontage, I take photos of peaceful landscapes around the world. I also enjoy street photography with its constantly changing landscape showing emotions and movement through the image.  I love colour and rarely work in black and white whether taking photos, drawing or painting. For me colour is at the essence of the world.

My most recent paintings are something of a paradox. I have painted uncomplicated versions of well-known local scenes adding something quite different. The scenes are peopled by hollow figures. They are the size of humans, but they have no visible entity. The intention is to illustrate the constantly changing images we see moving in the street. The buildings remain inviolable, quietly passive and watchful. The multifarious elements of the population is left to the imagination of the viewer. There is an interactive requisite of every viewer, inviting their innate creativity to formulate the story of each character.

The paintings also highlight the passage of people through the scene. The ephemeral shapes in perpetual movement contrast with the stolid permanence of the timeless and palpable architecture.

Painting in the style of the old picture books I enjoyed as an infant, or like the post-war railway posters of my childhood, is something I enjoy. I created a series of large poster paintings in this style for display in local pubs and restaurants. I have also painted several commissioned works in this style.

My abstract work of recent times has been an exploration of the colours and shapes within the face of beach cobbles. This work has involved photography with digital artistic post-processing. The finished prints are colourful and joyful in appearance.

My influences have been varied but, the work of Cumbrian artist Percy Kelly has influenced my recent street scenes. A long-time fondness for the work of Patrick Caulfield is evident in several pieces of my work. It was an exhibition of the provocative works of Kendal Geers, the South African multimedia artist. It was at the Baltic Art gallery many years ago, and changed my direction in Art. It gave me the inspiration for several multimedia installations which I subsequently exhibited.’