ELIZABETH ST. HILAIRE NELSON

(COLLAGE)

EXHIBITION DATES

Saturday December 5, 2009 2-4 pm

Artist Statement

          My love of collage started with a scrap box of mementos from my childhood that my father passed down to me a few years ago. Stuffing these tidbits into a box beneath my bed seemed very anticlimactic –– but what does one do with the original hospital bill for their birth and Mom’s nursing school graduation cards from 1967? 

I decided to find a way to incorporate these papers, notes and snippets into a figurative collage “painting.”
            This piece, Looking in on Jane (a portrait of my mother), won Best of Show at Orlando Visual Artists League (OVAL) in 2005 (and a second time in 2007 at the Women’s Caucus for Arts’ Matriarchs and Madonnas exhibit), plunging me head-first into a pool of possibility with collage. 

My technique has evolved and changed as a result of experimentation with hand-painted, hand-made, and found papers, maps, magazines, and memorabilia. I draw inspiration from potential collage materials that I come across in my day-to-day; fortune cookies--, tea-bag tags and the kids’ homework included! 

My work highlights the extraordinary within the ordinary, focusing on intense and vibrant colors combined with a sensibility of design. The collages incorporate a variety of materials that invite the viewer to look, and having looked, to linger.

Biography

          Clare Zipperly of Fifth Avenue Art Gallery in Melbourne, FL judged her work Best of Show in 2007 and stated:
“Elizabeth uses paper much like a mosaic artist might use tiles in assembling a piece, or she may use  layer upon layer of transparent papers to get the rich effect and colors she wants. Her work is simply a must see (up close).”

          Recent accomplishments include advancing to the finals (six artists, nationwide) of the U.S. Olympic Committee Sport Art Competition in conjunction with the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Locally she was awarded Best of Show at the Women’s Caucus for Arts Matriarchs and Madonnas exhibit at the University Club in Winter Park, FL in 2007.

          Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson, born and raised in New England, has lived in Central Florida for the past 17 years. She holds a B.F.A. in advertising design from Syracuse University, in Syracuse, New York. She is a member of the Florida Chapter of the Women’s Caucus for Art, and the National Collage Society.

Rouge Comme un Coq

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

SOLD

Du Coq a l’Ane

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

SOLD

Jambes de Coq

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

SOLD

Le Fait de Chercher l’Amour

Collage, Frmaed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

BLOO Cow

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 26

Coconut Palms

Collage

$950

20 x 20

Comme un Coq en Pâte

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Counting...

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

SOLD

Enchanted

Collage

$1,250

24 x 24

Fine Feathered Fowl

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Florida Sunshine

Collage

$1,250

24 x 24

How Now, Brown Cow

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Le Coq du Village

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Lockerbie Sheep II

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Lockerbie Sheep

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Liberté

Collage w/ Acrylic,

Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Qui se ressemble s'assemble

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$1,150

20 x 24

Prickly Pear

Collage, Framed w/ Barn Wood

$750

16 x 20

Ringneck Pheasant I

Collage

$395

9 x 12

Peeps and Tweets

Collage w/ Acrylic

$350

12 x 12

Reconciliation

Collage w/ Acrylic

$350

12 x 12

Something Old, Something New

Collage

$1200

18 x 22

Blue

Collage

$1150

20 x 24

Buttercup #1

Collage

$1440

20 x 30

Himalayan Pheasant #1

Collage

$1150

20 x 24

Himalayan Pheasant #3

Collage

$1150

20 x 24

Kona Gold Pineapple

Collage

$745

20 x 20

Lone Palm

Collage

$1150

20 x 24

Wild Sweet Orange

Collage

$1150

20 x 24