The unique beauty of Lake Michigan’s shoreline in southeastern Wisconsin inspires digital artist Elizabeth G Fagan. It’s where the wild majesty of the Great Lakes meets gently tended farmland. Four distinct seasons create visual masterpieces. For its geographic location, Fagan calls this place Lake Michigan’s Left Coast.
To create her art, Fagan first takes photographs. With her digital camera, she takes dozens or even hundreds of shots of a subject. Back in her studio, she reviews the images to carefully select the ones that best capture the visual interest of the subject. It might be the way the sun lit a natural setting on a particular day. It might be a specific pattern or texture. It might the expression in a creature’s eyes. “With my animal portraits, I aim to spread compassion for our fellow travelers on planet Earth,” says Fagan.
With her artwork, Fagan attempts to capture the essence of a scene or subject. She often minimizes visual noise to emphasize distinctive characteristics. She says she “explores natural and familiar scenes as they might appear in memories.”
Things Fagan loves: Arts & Crafts interiors, rustic antiques, American-primitive furniture, bungalows in Chicago neighborhoods. Encountering the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park, IL she says she had an epiphany. “Everywhere I looked in Wright’s studio, everything just made sense. It was perfect design.” Though Fagan is influenced by the past, her medium is state-of-the-art digital photography.
“I call my work ‘eclectic 21st-century,'” says Fagan.
About the Author
Elizabeth G Fagan is an artist, photographer, and writer. A former Chicagoan, Fagan resides in southeastern Wisconsin. She calls her place in the world Lake Michigan’s Left Coast.
Fagan attended a private arts high school on Connecticut’s Long Island Sound, where she focused on print-making and photography. She went on to acquire a BA in English (Grinnell College & UIC), an MA in Linguistics (UIC), and a certificate in web development (DePaul University). A career in Chicago-area publishing and website design/development gave Fagan advanced professional skills. Following a move to Wisconsin, Fagan devotes much of her time to making art. She’s held part-time sales positions with paint, home-design, and photography retailers.
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