More on artist Elizabeth Paxson

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY- 2006

Elizabeth Paxson was born in Syracuse, New York and raised in southwestern Michigan. From a family of artists, at age 14 she enrolled in high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan, graduating in 1969 with the highest honor in visual arts; the Young Artist's Award. Her work became a part of Interlochen's permanent collection. She also won high honors in painting and sculpture and National Scholastic Art Awards in ceramics and metals.

After a year's study at Boston University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, she returned to the Midwest and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 1972.

Since 1972, she has shown and sold her work in galleries in New England and in the Midwest, most recently at Thirdstone Gallery & Art Works in Saugatuck, Art Beat Gallery in Grand Rapids, , and the Gem & Century Theater in Detroit and the Michigan Artist's Gallery in Sutton's Bay. For over twenty years, she freelanced as a graphic artist, illustrator and writer in addition to continuing her work as a fine artist.

In 1994, Elizabeth met Ron Elmore, owner of Open Door Music, Inc. in Saugatuck, Michigan. Her passion for the arts and music combined with Ron's to expand the business, where her work is regularly featured. She now devotes most of her time to creating art.

Ms. Paxson works in a variety of media, including more traditional ones like oil, acrylic and color pencil, but her most recent innovative work uses dye and collage on paper, creating vivid images that evoke an other-worldly feeling. Her clay pieces feature unique stoneware and earthenware teapots, sculptural pieces and majolica glazed tiles and plates featuring mermaids and other designs. Her whimsical assemblage pieces made from found objects and driftwood have also been a favorite with clients.

ARTIST STATEMENT

"I think of art as a means of healing both people and the earth. Art is the translator between the literal, cognitive world of the human mind, and the intuitive world of the spirit. It calls us to connect with that which nurtures us. In this sense, my work could be considered "tribal."

The Aboriginal People of Australia have "song lines." These are songs and chants that coincide with places in the land, and events that have happened over thousands of years. They represent the ancestors and the beings that once inhabited the land. They believe that when the songs stop, the world will end. I believe this too. If we fail to hear the sacred songs and live in harmony with them, the earth will not continue to support us. I listen for the songs and translate them into visual pieces.
I am in love with the earth, the sky, the trees, the rivers, and the other creatures with which we share the planet. I believe the earth is a living, moving being. She sings to us with myriad voices- voices that are increasingly being drowned out by man's consumption. My pieces are just bits of those bigger, sacred earth songs. They are about aliveness, the sacredness of nature, and the song of the spirit. They are intended to call us back to a place of harmony.

Color has always been a primary focus of my artwork. During a career that has included both music and art I had an epiphany where the relationship between color (light), and sound became one. I now think of each piece as synonymous with music. Each work may represent a simple song; a sonata or it may be as complex as a symphony. Each has its own unique melody, color and rhythm of composition and form. For this reason, although I still make representational pieces and portraits, I have moved into a more flowing, abstract form of expression.

I discovered the vibrancy of dye after being dissatisfied with the paler hues of watercolor. I wanted something organic and vivid; the colors had to sing and have a "wow" factor of their own. Once I began to experiment with the quality of the dyes, I could introduce theme and content to the work. The organic quality of the materials makes them perfect for expressing themes about nature, harmony and our connection to the earth.

Working in clay has a grounding effect and keeps me in touch, literally, with the earth. I have always liked the feeling that fired clay pieces will be around for a long time and somehow translate a bit of their own "creation stories" many years hence. There is something truly satisfying in creating a useful (and beautiful) object that holds sustenance in some way for those who use it. A teapot, a bowl or a mask can become a beautiful vessel to transport the desire of the maker into the future.

Assemblage pieces from found objects and driftwood are like amusing puzzles. Taking the discarded, the lake-washed flotsam and making strange new beings is pure fun. Often I "see" something like a strange face or figure in the gnarled wood, and that determines what sort of creature will emerge.
It also satisfies in me a deep longing to resurrect, that which has been thrown away into some new "life form." When I make these pieces, I feel like Isis."

TO READ SOME OF LIZ' POEMS, CLICK HERE

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HIGH SCHOOL: Interlochen Arts Academy, Interlochen, Michigan
1966-1969 (graduated)

AWARDS & HONORS:
Interlochen Arts Academy, Young Artist Award, 1969
(senior top award in visual art)
Awards in Painting and Sculpture, 1969
National Scholastic Art Awards in Ceramics and Metals, 68

FINE ARTS: I have exhibited paintings, sculptures and other works in various shows and galleries in Maine, Michigan, and Illinois, including: the Ark Gallery, Saugatuck, Mich.; Thirdstone Gallery,
Saugatuck, Mich.; Open Door Music, Saugatuck, Mich.; Folkworks Gallery, Evanston, Il.; Light of the Moon, Evanston, IL.; Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Mich. (All Michigan, All Media shows); Beatnick’s
Cafe, St. Joseph, Mich.; Art’s Cafe, Benton Harbor, Mich.; National touring show of Interlochen Arts Academy, and others.

My illustrations have been published in magazines including the Black River Syllabary, Mothering Magazine, Nostalgia, and Wooden Boat.

Illustrated the children’s book by singer/author Anne Hills entitled “Dreamcatcher”.

Have written and illustrated numerous brochures, newsletters and booklets.

Have assisted on mural projects including Conrad Kaufman’s mural on the Barrister Building in Kalamazoo, Mich. and Michele Gauthier’s mural for the Midland Museum, Midland, Mich. I have also created mural walls for businesses.

The runway glitters
The lights are set
The Pooh-bahs of fashion are there,
The models fluff and frown and fret
As they finish their make-up and hair.
When all is ready they stand up tall
Like saplings all in a row,
And wait for the signal to strut their stuff
At the century's fashion show.
In pink and bronze and neon lime
They twirl on pin-like heels,
The catwalk crowd is taking notes
Of designs they can later steal.
But out of the shadows
She now appears,
A model they've never seen;
She's the one with the nose
And invisible hose:
Make way for the Colobus Queen!
Everything stops as she makes her way
Her statement spare and new,
All eyes are on her pendulous nose
A pear-shaped bulb of blue.
She balances so daintily
Her breasts are small and neat,
A fetching hat sits on her head,
Her smile is pure and sweet.
And when she turns a cheer goes up
As the other girls turn green:
Hip, Hip, Hurrah for the blue-nosed babe,
Hurrah for the Colobus Queen!

Tawny-suited weasels
Shifty lemon eyes,
Sharpening their fangware
Keen as kitchen knives.
Twitch, twine and tangle
Lithe as summer eels,
Sharpening their fangware
A banquet to congeal.
Tantalizing mouse folk
Counting seeds and stones,
Unwary of the weasels
Counting on their bones.
Oh little mice come join us
For a gala jamboree,
Your presence is requested
The tickets all are free!
We’ll dance the tarantella
Eat millet, bread and corn,
See circuses and magic
Until the early morn.
Mouse folk stood in rank and file
To buy the weasel lies,
As each mouse crossed into the hall
He met his sad demise.
Now those mice are nothing more
Than weasel amplitude,
Except the clever little mouse
Who saw himself as food.
E.P.

E. Paxson

At the brink of the great chameleon lake
The bones of trees collide,
I, the diviner walk alone
And measure the evening tide.
Fine grasses pierce the veil of sand
Rough wind cuts hard and wide,
Stones call out to touch me
And so I must oblige.
Like star-seeds far the rocks are strewn
Along the ciphered strand,
Where green water beats and spills
I walk the spangled band.
What magic in these tumbled runes
Emerging from the deep,
What timeless dreams in every stone
Have cast them from their sleep?
Green water now where shadows run
And sun-blood stains the sky,
Red- glamoured clouds meet violet dusk
Against the gulling cries.
Turning in the gathering dusk
The changeling lake is blue,
No constancy does she provide
And yet her soul is true.
For all is writ along her shore
In stick, in sand, in stone,
I, a momentary footnote
Pass this way alone.