I hope to capture an expression or mood and evoke a sense of mystery or humor in my paintings through subject matter and color. The most compelling subjects to me are figure studies and portraiture, but I also enjoy painting landscapes, "house portraiture", still lifes, and non-representational themes.

My earliest fascination with art was sitting beside my mom looking at the illustrations in the story books as she read to me and my sisters. Then on Sundays during Mass I found an escape in our family bible in the pictures of paintings by Giotto and other pre-renaissance painters. These paintings were so rich with color and narrative that they made painting seem magical. My real connection with painting was when I saw Van Gogh's Starry Night. It wasn't the drawing but the color and brush marks that made the painting so facsinating and moving, and I felt like I was seeing through to Van Gogh himself.

Today I love looking at works of portraiture by great portraitists like Whistler and Sargent and the many others. I am also intrigued by the modernist art movement its artists, themes, and attention to the painting surface. My current favorite contemporary artist is narrative painter Hung Liu.

Artist note: Elaine is a native of Kansas City, Missouri and has studied under numerous professional artists as well as in the more formal settings of university art courses, art center programs, and museum classes.

She holds a BS in physical therapy from Georgia State University and works part time at Pierce Physical Therapy in Oak Ridge. Elaine is cofounder of The Artists' Studio which is a private studio and gallery also in Oak Ridge.

Elaine has won awards in regional juried shows such as the Oak Ridge Art Center Open Show, The Art Market Gallery Open Show, the Tennessee Artist Association Open Show, and the Oak Ridge Rotary Street Painting Festival. Her work is on display in Knoxville at the Art Market Gallery and at The Artists' Studio and Gallery in Oak Ridge.