ARTIST STATEMENT/Elizabeth Garát

Growing up in California and Colorado, I spent a lot of time outdoors in sublimely beautiful places. From a young age I liked to be outside, and felt the Mystical presence in Nature. I came into this life intrigued by combinations of color, certain light effects, and shapes. Early immersion in the out of doors combined with innate ways of observing my surroundings influenced me in choosing landscape as my primary subject matter. The act of painting out of doors is both a challenge and a way of connecting the seen and the Unseen.
In my representational work- landscape and architecture, I explore the mood, essence, and presence of Place. I feel the most successful of these works function as landscape icons.

The process:
I go on summer expeditions and make studies on site. On location, I complete small paintings or sketches in two hours or less. Returning to my studio, I work at a slower pace referring to sketches, memories, photos and notes. Back in the studio is a kind of conjuring time- meditating with the eyes open. Once I'm away from the pressure of the changing light, I like to work in layers- layering pigments in a way that lets a painting appear illuminated from within.


Please note All images are original works copyright of Elizabeth J. Garat, and are protected under International Copyright laws. They are for online viewing purposes only and may not be copied, saved to a computer hard drive, reproduced or distributed without the express permission of the artist.