At first glance, it looks like professional artist Elizabeth St. Hilaire’s work is a painting. But if you take a closer look, you’ll see that it’s actually many different pieces of painted paper she’s layered together to form an elaborate collage. “It’s different and it stands out. That’s why I like it,” she says of her signature style. She’s even called her business “Paper Paintings.” “The viewer is more engaged and when they start looking close, it’s not a painting. It’s made of pieces of paper. That to me, I love that.”
She prefers to use the paper from old books (she believes the quality of the paper is better since there’s probably not as much recycled materials) and Japanese rice paper. She’ll then use Golden paints. She always tears her paper and never uses scissors since brush strokes never look as precise as a cut. She tells us she prefers to create natural and organic shapes and created animal paintings for a long time. Elizabeth is focusing on “Wizard of Oz” characters at the moment. Her work is, much like her bright pink hair, colorful. A friend once asked her if she had ever created anything in black and white. She said she responded with, “I thought it was an odd question.” It would never occur to her not to use color.
If her name sounds familiar to you, it might be because she’s been teaching at the Sedona Arts Center for about a decade. She’s mostly taught in-person and has only recently been instructing virtually. She’s teaching an upcoming Zoom class dedicated to florals in late April. Participants will spend three days learning Elizabeth’s techniques and will make mixed media creations of floral arraignments. “Flowers are very forgiving,” she says. Explaining that even if your daffodil doesn’t quite look true to life, it will still look like a flower. “They’re colorful. They’re cheerful. Something that is a very good place to start.” Overall, anticipate a lively atmosphere. “I’m relatively entertaining and funny. I try to be encouraging. I make it a point to make everybody at every level to feel comfortable,” she says. “We have fun.” − Teresa K. Traverse
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