Artist's Statement
I am a painter who works with collage and abstraction. I begin with preparatory sketches that I expand into bigger compositions. I create with preconceived plans to express an emotion like happiness, sadness, or power. Sometimes just letting the paint form its own composition can be exciting.
I seek to employ colors in new and exciting ways. I use abstraction to tell a story using words, drawings or photographs from the history of art. In my most recent works, I have merged reality with abstraction. I see shapes of architecture, lines against the sky, perspective, and light. The skylines in LA have inspired a new abstract path, for me. I am showing my recent works in a solo exhibit called Abstracts Revisited.
My father, Robert Elliott, was a graphic designer, photographer, sculptor and painter. He taught me to draw, encouraged me to become a graphic
designer and a fine artist. I studied fine art at Briarcliff College, in Briarcliff Manor
near my home in Westchester, New York. After college I studied at The School of
Visual Arts, The New School for Social Research, and The Art Students League of
New York City. Early in my graphic design career I worked with Peter Max on
projects for the Bettmann Archive and The Art Director’s Club of New York. After
opening my design business called, Mechanicals Overnight, I worked on magazines
and brochures for Bergdorf Goodman, Random House and Newsweek
Magazine. By working overnight, I was able to deliver the completed production
early in the morning. That was my niche.
While I was in New York City, I was asked to be the Art Director for Aspen Magazine 5&6, following Andy Warhol who was the art director for Aspen 3&4. Aspen was an experimental magazine of fine artists and can be found in contemporary art museums throughout the world. During my time with Aspen Magazine, I worked with Susan Sontag, Brian O’Doherty, William Burroughs, Tony Smith and Mel Bochner.
My husband and I moved to Hawaii where we raised our son Robert, and I worked as a designer for the time we lived there. After 20 wonderful years in Hawaii we moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota where I became a docent at The Walker Art Center studying contemporary art and painting in a studio. We moved to Los Gatos, California where I worked as the art director for Classic Custom Vacations and painted in my studio at the Alameda Artworks in San Jose. I retired from graphic design and now work solely as a fine artist. My work has been exhibited in shows and galleries in California and New York.
Aspen 5&6 can be found in museums around the world.
Now living in Los Angeles, I am on the board of SCWCA, The Southern California Women’s Caucus for Art as the Exhibitions Chair planning new exhibits.