The Principles Behind the Art: An Artist’s Statement
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. In a nearby field, one might see Sandhills and Holsteins dining together. Four distinct seasons create visual masterpieces. Fagan calls this place Lake Michigan’s Left Coast.
With her art, Elizabeth G Fagan aims to do two things. The first is to use contemporary tools as an artisan in the tradition of the Arts & Crafts movement.
First, Fagan takes her own photographs. At the arts high school she attended, she learned about photography and creative imaging with black & white film. She used different darkroom techniques to create various effects.
Now, 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 sunlight hit something that day. It might be a specific pattern or texture.
Nearly always, there is a sense of time relative to place. By “time” she means a season, a weather pattern, a piece of history. Fagan’s notion of Lake Michigan’s Left Coast captures the sense of “place.” The Great Lakes region is bountiful in its natural and rural beauty.
Elizabeth G Fagan’s second goal as an artist is perhaps harder to describe. She attempts to capture the essence of a scene by minimizing visual noise and emphasizing distinctive characteristics. She is intrigued by the brain’s capacity for processing and remembering imagery. In her art, she explores natural and familiar scenes as they might appear in memories.
Mission and cottage design, antique American primitives, bungalows in historic Midwestern neighborhoods: Fagan loves them all. At Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio (Oak Park, Illinois, USA) she was mesmerized by the genius of the 20th–century architect and designer. Fagan’s work is influenced by Arts and Crafts style, but its foundation is photography; eclectic 21st-century is the result.
Elizabeth G Fagan is an artist and writer who resides in southeastern Wisconsin—a place she calls Lake Michigan’s Left Coast. Her art can be printed in a variety of media: unframed prints or canvases; custom-framed prints or canvases; 5×7 or 8×10 wood panels; pillows, throws, calendars, greeting cards, coffee mugs, and more. Artwork dimensions are given in inches.
Follow Elizabeth G Fagan on social media
- Facebook @lakemichigansleftcoast
- Twitter @roscoefagan
- Pinterest lakemichigansleftcoast
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