I am a native and current resident of the Tidewater area of Virginia (now referred to as Hampton Roads) .  I still get to visit the home where I grew up in Portsmouth where my parents still live.  My growing up years on the Elizabeth River, family boat trips up the Chesapeake Bay, summers of crabbing and fishing on the pier, and later trips to the Outer Banks of NC have influenced my bent toward anything water.  As an adult I have lived in Suffolk for 20 years adding to my world an interest in agricultural subjects and anything from my meager attempts at gardening and the all consuming world of raising children.  My love of art revived somewhat recently in 2011 when I needed a night away from the demands of home, children, and homeschooling.  I was introduced to oils by a master of oils, Robert LeMasters.  His class started me on an artistic trek that led to teaching art at my homeschool co-op, then at a private school, and now privately, all the while on a pursuit to become an accomplished oil painter myself.  My students have made me a better artist, forced me to learn many art mediums, broke down any walls or restrictions I put on myself, and made me ask the question why do art at all.   

What about that question as to why teach or pursue excellence in art at all?  Is it purely for asthetics or to brighten up a room?  The beauty of art only scratches the surface.  I remind myself that practicing art is about worship.  We take the things we see and experience and interpret them through our own way of seeing and by what we believe even if we don't realize it.  We take form, pattern, line, as well as many other facets which we see rightly as the order of creation and imitate, expand, illuminate, and rearrange them in our own creation of art.  We get all excited about the shape of the shadow, the highlights on a plate, the way the light and shadow changes colors, and we celebrate these elements.  We express the order and the chaos, the beauty and the ashes, the struggle and the victory, the light and darkness.  All these things show us the character of the Creator.  We learn about Him through exploring these ideas.  I just read this morning, "You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy." Psalm 65:8b.  What glory and goodness He shows us about Himself twice a day!  Who can capture well the brilliance of this daily occurrence?  We haven't been able to reach the end of the expanse of the stars or the deepest abyss.  He is bigger than I can understand, but He still reveals Himself everyday in ways I can appreciate.  And that's what art is to me:  appreciating the One who made it all and set it into motion.  

I hope you enjoy viewing any of my pieces and it is my hope that my work better portrays my vision with excellence and good technique and authenticity increasingly each year.  

Elizabeth G. Blanchard