About the Artist

Raised in an artistic family, Elisabeth has been drawing since she was a child. She was taught plein air painting in 2002 by California painter Sally Miller, who insisted she enter shows that same year. Encouraged by awards from the beginning, she took workshops with  CA. painters Ken Auster and Barry John Raybould, and continued to work to develop her own technique. She was accepted into Trowbridge Gallery, Ojai, CA in her second year of painting. She moved with her family to Italy in 2005 and was accepted into two galleries during her two year stay. Back in the states, she studied with Connecticut painters Hollis Dunlap and Christopher Zhang. She was accepted into two CT galleries before transferring to Virginia. In 2011, she juried into a working artist studio in Norfolk, VA where she had a studio space and taught four adult oil classes per week. She looks to the past for inspiration and is fond of the turn of century painters Mary Cassatt, Anders Zorn, John Singer Sargent and Joaquin Sorolla.

Elisabeth is motivated by subjects such as children, the elderly, homeless and migrant workers. In the last few years she has become involved in painting to raise funds and awareness for homelessness. She painted a collection of paintings for two separate shows "Look Both Ways" in 2010, and "Right Next Door" in 2013. The second collection of paintings focused more on portrait work. Each face held depth and a unique story. She painted both homeless faces and the faces of volunteers working at the facilities, with the hope of erasing the dividing line between. It was sometimes hard to tell if the subject was homeless or a helper. That was the goal. "We are all just people and anyone could find themselves in a similar situation." She painted a collection of paintings for a show in October 2013 to benefit World Concern. Elisabeth is never happier than when in her studio, surrounded by works in progress and the smell of turpenoid.