Norfolk Arts Transit Gallery exhibiting artist 2016
If you get a sense of being in a garden when you look at my paintings, look closer and you will see why. I have been an avid gardener and naturalist from an early age and over the years I have formulated a technique to create the rich textural surfaces that appear in my paintings. For each work I weave together a complex background of printed fabric that may combine insects, flowers, vines, or even reptiles simultaneously underscoring the interconnectedness of the human animal with all living things.
In some paintings I enjoy studying the different patterns and surface of the subject matter. In other works, I attempt to tell a story weaving in people that I have seen or met in my neighborhood or around town. Sometimes I get an inspiration for a painting from dreams. In the end it is the rich textures and colors of nature that inspire me.
Elaine Fleck is a painter, muralist, mosaic artist, and organic gardener. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in painting and printmaking. She completed further Art studies at City College of San Francisco and The San Francisco Art Institute. Roanoke has been her home since 1996.
Read Elaine’s interview in Tidewater Women’s Magazine
Elaine Fleck. “Elm Avenue.” Oil on fabric on canvas., 24″ x 36.”
