Paper Paintings - Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson

'Tis the frigid season here in the northeastern U.S. I can't think of a better way to warm things up than to take an imaginary trip to Florida where we'll be introduced to the colorful paper art of Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson.

The subject matter of her appealing collages often correlates to the flora and fauna of the sunny locale.

If fact, many of Elizabeth's collages feature animals... surprising in their realism considering she 'paints' each creature using bits of maps, ticket stubs, sheet music, retired book pages, you name it.

Also of interest is her labor-intensive process of first creating hand-painted papers that she tears into small pieces and applies to a hand drawn sketch on a painted background.

A cool thing about Elizabeth is that she delights in sharing her ever-evolving process with others. She often leads popular workshops around the U.S. and beyond, and has released a self-published book called Painting Paper that details her technique for creating decorative painted and/or textured paper for use in your own art projects.

Elizabeth studied graphic design and fine art in college, but her love of collage began later when she was given a scrap box of childhood mementos by her father. Rather than store the notes, cards, and receipts for posterity, she began incorporating them into paintings.

Elizabeth frequently updates her Facebook page and you can sign up for her newsletter to learn about upcoming three-day workshops that sound like a whole lot of fun. She just announced a new one in Tuscany next October.

Enjoy a look at her website: Paper Paintings

The Artwork of Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson: While most collage Artists work with bits of paper which are inherently ‘found’ objects, the meticulously torn papers used in the vibrantly colored collages of Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson are first hand-painted.  Only then are they placed in position.  Her works were featured recently at the Maitland Art Center where curator Richard Colvin said, “Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson’s artworks have a fresh quality that belies the way they are constructed.” A First Place Winner in The Artist’s Magazine (2010), Nelson also received a grant from United Arts of Central Florida (her 2nd) in the same year.
This versatile Artist also plays the violin with the Maitland Symphony Orchestra and works as a professional graphic designer. On Mother’s Day 2009 St. Hilaire Nelson completed her first sprint distance triathlon and ran her first half marathon in October 2010. Her newest goal – a full Olympic distance triathlon!
- See more at: http://www.wanderingeducators.com/artisans/artisan-month/artist-month-elizabeth-st-hilaire-nelson.html#sthash.gaabIxGz.dpuf