“I can’t imagine life without painting. If I’m away from painting too long, I don’t feel like myself anymore.”
ON ANY GIVEN DAY, ELIZABETH HUTCHINSON CAN BE FOUND sitting at her easel in her Belleville studio, dabbing at the oil colours squeezed on her palette or moving her conté across a canvas.
Elizabeth describes her work as poetic realism – a sensibility that shows in her portraits and nudes. “I want to understand things, so I take information apart.” The parts she explores shape the whole, leaving an impression of the subject that is reflective of the human condition. “I try to capture truthful expression, something honest, authentic…When a painting is working, it is a glorious feeling…in a deep way. After I’m finished a painting, I rarely look at it again – it’s all about the process.”
Recently, Elizabeth began yet another process – a series of black and white abstract paintings which take her in new directions but also take her back to composition and design. The new works stretch and complement the “poetic realism” of her familiar subjects and are at once studied, spontaneous, and insightful.
You can view Elizabeth’s work at www.elizabethhutchinson.wordpress.com
Story by:
Kathryn Macdonald
