During our interview, Elaine Lisle went on about the south of France and how it’s her favorite place to paint. Here are some of her works that come from one of the most beautiful places on earth.
These paintings came from a trip in July of 2008:
Saignon from the west
Lavender fields
At the base of Joucas
Street scene, Saignon
Some earlier works from another trip to France:
"I love the area around Sault which is carpeted with lavender."
Elaine Lisle is a University of Pennsylvania graduate with a very decorated list of artistic achievements. I stumbled across some of her work while visiting galleries in Philadelphia. Her painting were so inspirational, I just had to speak with this woman!
ArtEmotion: How long have you considered yourself an artist?
Elaine Lisle: I have been an artist my whole life, but consider myself a professional artist since 1993.
AE: Did you start making art for yourself, or you wanted to make a living off it from the start?
EL: When I was in school I was just doing art for myself, but when I made my decision to paint full-time, (after a couple other career attempts), I was certainly trying to make money at it.
AE: You have painted landscapes from around the world. What’s your favorite place to paint?
EL: I particularly enjoy painting in the south of France, which is why I have been there 5 times in the last 10 years.
Elaine painting in the south of France.
AE: Do you travel specifically to capture different landscapes and scenery?
EL: Apart from specific painting trips, I generally arrange to bring my painting equipment with me on family vacations and paint while the rest of the group finds other activities.
AE: Do you only do landscapes?
EL: I am actually better known for my “street scenes” I became fascinated by the Italian Market area of Philadelphia, and did many paintings trying to capture the colors and architectural diversity there. I have painted Philadelphia over and over, and have branched out to New York and other cities more recently as well.
AE: What is your favorite medium to work with?
EL: I only work in oil. I like the texture, the quality, the fact that it stays wet for a long time, the rich colors which become more plastic-looking in acrylic.
AE: I discovered your work at the the Artists’ House in Philadelphia. Are you a Philly native?
EL: I grew up in Connecticut and came here when I attended the University of Pennsylvania. I have now lived here more than half my life. I only started showing with Artists House a year ago. I have been with a number of galleries in the city, but Artists House is a wonderful place to show work.
Elaine has also recently started showing at a New York gallery, and have exhibited up and down the East Coast. Her work will also be featured in a book called “Philadelphia Originals” coming out this Spring. Please visit Elaine’s personal web site to see some of her work. 
I have recently been in contact with Elaine Lisle, who has agreed to do an interview with me for my blog. I found some of her work on the Artists’ House web site. Her style of painting is exactly what I aspired towards when I was creating art work.
She does mostly landscapes, and has a very decorated background. She has traveled around the world and captured some of the most beautiful scenery through her paintings.
Lisle has a personal web site that divides her paintings into categories, one of which is France. This was exciting for me to discover. Every day I find something new to relate to. I can’t wait to spend a month in the south of France. Hopefully Lisle has some advice to take with me in my travels.
I will post the interview sometime next week, along with some of her work.
The first two galleries I have been able to visit were alike and different in a variety of ways.
The Artists’ House:
ArtJaz Gallery:
I liked the contrast between the bigger and the smaller galleries. While Artists’ House had more work on display, the work at ArtJaz was very selective and even more impressive. At ArtJaz, the works of art were all very vibrant with color. Almost all the works featured bright orange, red yellow. These are known as warm colors and usually create a cheerful mood in paintings.
The Artists’ House was featuring a “Back to Cezanne” exhibition. A lot of the works were representative of french artist Paul Cezanne. There were a lot of landscapes as well as portraits. Not all of the work was a part of the exhibit. The gallery stretched back through three rooms. There was also a back room I was invited to explore. The back room was even more fascinating than the gallery. There were shelves upon shelves of undisplayed art, some of which I would definitely prefer to look at. Hopefully when I go back they’ll have a new display.
One reason why I mentioned the two web sites are because unless you’re an art advocate, you really wouldn’t know about either one of these galleries. I wanted to see if the websites are useful at all with either getting collectors to come in or getting new artists to submit their work.
At Artists’ House I was greeted by a curator who was more than happy to let me take a look around. She invited me to take pictures and gave me the freedom to explore on my own. The window display was most captivating with it’s gold sequins. The back room was definitely uncharted territory with hundreds and hundreds of paintings. This room was fill of undiscovered art, including the two side by side portraits. There weren’t as many sculptures but they were all arranged on a table in the same back room. Next, I was drawn the the ArtJaz Gallery. Every work was vibrant with color.
It wasn’t hard to find art in Old City. There were murals on almost every building. I found the rotating cubes on top of a diner. The people were friendly and it was not at all intimating. Now I’m ready to make Philly my city.
I’m starting to realize that I really am an amateur at this Philadelphia art thing. My initial plans were just to go to Philly once in a while, and hopefully stumble across some art. Well let me tell you, this just isn’t the case. The city dedicates the first Friday of every month to letting people explore all the art Philly has to offer. It’s really convenient for people like me, because obviously I don’t have a clue.
First Fridays are organized by the Old City Art Association. It’s basically an open house for collectors and regular people to visit galleries and museums. Some of the galleries I mentioned in another one of my posts participate in First Fridays including the 3rd Street Gallery and Muse.
While I’ve heard of First Fridays, I never really knew what they were all about. It’s really a coincidence that First Fridays directly correlate with my blog. I guess I’m just lucky.
I’m going to try and get to as many First Fridays as possible, because I was a little skeptical about going to the galleries on my own. I really don’t know what it’s like. For instance, if walk into a gallery off of the street on a regular day, do they expect you to buy something? I feel like galleries are only for serious collectors, people with money. First Fridays will be the perfect opportunity for me to learn the ins and outs of going to galleries and hopefully help me expand my blog.
Now, as you may have gathered, today is indeed the first Friday in March. Unfortunately, I’m a slave to my part time job and I can not attend. I have to remember to take off on the first Friday in April.
Also, a little side note, I think I need to start making friends that know more about Philly than I do. That might help, I’m a big baby about going places where I don’t already know my way around.
This past week I visited, for the first time, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The only other art museums I have been to are the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Louvre in Paris which are probably the two most famous art museums in the world. I kept an open mind because I felt as if no other art museum could possible compare. But it was in it’s own right, absolutely amazing.
The one exhibition that I was particularly interested was a collection of work by Henri Matisse. The exhibition was entitled, “Modern Art on the French Riviera.” I was immediately excited because it just so happens that I will be studying abroad this summer on none other than the French Riviera!
I’ve always wanted to visited the south of France, and the works of art by Matisse were inspired by Nice, which is where the university I will be attending is located. This experience to me was like fate.
Included in the exhibition were other works by artists inspired by the French Riviera. All the paintings has a common theme, they were bursting with color. The art made me so optimistic about my trip and I know now that Nice will be the perfect place to start creating art of my own.
I think one of the reasons why I got into art was because I liked the idea of being “deep.” In other words, I wanted people to look at my work and be like, “that girl is troubled” or, “that girl is happy.” In high school I felt like the most innovative artists were tormented souls. Take for instance, Vincent Van Gogh or Camille Claudel. Van Gogh is most famous for chopping off his hear and mailing it to his estranged lover. Claudel checked herself into an asylum because she was chronically paranoid. Her paranoia caused her to destroy almost her entire life’s work because she was afraid that her mentor, Auguste Rodin was stealing her ideas.
An artist’s mind is so complex. Some are mentally deranged, and some are so wise they even make art with words. Here are some inspirational quotes from some truely talented artists:
“Practice what you know, and it will help you make clear what you do not know.” – Vincent Van Gogh
“Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” – Pablo Picasso
“One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.” – Salvador Dali
“A work of art that did not begin in emotion is not art.” – Paul Cezanne
“Creativity takes courage.” – Henri Matisse
These men could have been writers. As for me, I’m not nearly as insightful and I definitely have not lead a troubled life. I guess it’s time for me to look past all that and just take art for what it is, something that I enjoy.
As promised, I’ve been in touch with Leighann Hoffman, a photography student at UArts in Philly. A lot of her most recent work was done through out Philadelphia, a city she has grown to love. Leighann is from my home town, Parsippany, NJ. Her brother Jerry was one of my best friends. He passed away on October 31, 2008 due to a motorcycle accident. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about him. It’s so surreal. Whenever I go home, I still expect him to be one of the first people I see. It’s been hard on everyone who was close to him.
The thing I admire most about Leighann is her strength and courage. She returned to school to pursue her dreams and works hard at what she does. She loves her brother, and was more than happy to contribute some of her work for my blog. Thanks Leighann, and we love you Jerry.
For each photo, I asked Leighann to provide some commentary. I really don’t know much about photography, but I picked the work that was most appealing to me. She can provide some insight on why it’s appealing based on her technique and style.
This was taken in the garden at my dorms. His name is Marty Katzoff. The new kid. He was an excellent model, he knew what he was doing, I didn’t have to instruct him. This was taken for a photo class in which the project was to take photos in the manner and style of a famous photographer. i was modeling my photos after John Rankin Waddell
I really dig aerial angles. I think aerial angles give the photograph such a great perspective. I like the movement in this picture as well, because it shows action, and a focal point.
The perspective of this one is cool. just imagine being in the middle of the woods, laying down and looking up, it’s peaceful. I love the dramatic changes of lights and darks, and how it kind of looks like the trees are caving inward.
Stella! This pooch is always sitting on the stoop of her apartment with her master. Such a gorgeous dog. I love this picture because it shows how loyal and well behaved the dog is. And it shows daily life in Philadelphia. Everyone is always walking their dogs, or sitting on their porch relaxing, just taking the city in.
This is what I love about Philly, art is everywhere. Well, art is always everywhere but in comparison to Parsippany, it’s a lot more evident in Philadelphia. Just walking down the street, staring at your feet you’ll find some incredible things, and some good advice too.
Thank you so much Leighann! Your work is amazing.
Finding time to get to Philly this week isn’t happening soooo … I plan on visiting these galleries very very soon:
3rd Street Gallery
58 North 2nd Street, Philly
Muse Gallery
60 North 2nd Street, Philly
Edge Gallery
72 North 2nd Street, Philly
Projects Gallery
629 North 2nd Street, Philly
Also in my adventures I will be visiting with Leighann Hoffman. She is a first year student at UArts. This past October, she lost her brother and my very close friend Jerry in a motorcycle accident. She will share with me some of her work so I can post it in his memory.
