“I was struck by the perfect egg shape of one of the rocks and made a play on words with the legendary great Roc bird. I added a bird to the scene to further this concept. I used a Japanese Heron, not a local bird, to represent the tourism that is so plentiful near the Monterey Aquarium,” said Suzy Elsworth-Heithcock.
The Lamorinda Arts Council (Council) invites you to view a virtual exhibit of Lafayette artist Suzy Elsworth-Heithcock’s paintings during December. All Council art exhibits are virtual until COVID-19 restrictions change. See her virtual exhibit entitled “Epic Nature” through images and a video at www.lamorindaarts.org/online-galleries.
Elsworth-Heithcock exhibits 12 works focused on landscapes, trees, figurative drawings and works from her imagination. Two companion pieces, Dryad and Nayad, really draw the epic aspects of nature into her artwork, as mentioned in her theme. A Dryad is a female Greek nature spirit about whom Elsworth-Heithcock said, “The Dryad painting is part of my reaction to being quarantined for months, expressing the explosive need I had to feel and melding my senses with the rich banquet in Nature. The Dryad in particular feels the wind.”
Nayad is the Greek name for an immortal female nymph who presides over freshwater, springs and wells. The biomorphic lines of Nayad, her 24” x 6” oil painting, recall the fluidity and grace of moving water. You may have heard of Nayads and Dryads in books such as The Chronicles of Narnia, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Illiad and The Odyssey.
Elsworth-Heithcock is conscious of the difficulty presenting a three-dimensional world in two dimensional drawings or paintings. She said adding in the fourth dimension of time, such as showing the passage of time in an old tree to remind the observer that wind moves tree branches about, is what she tries to convey in her paintings. “Portraying a flow of movement is fundamental to my work,” added Elsworth-Heithcock. For more about her work, visit www.elsworthartworks.com.
The Art Gallery at Wilder is virtual because the Gallery is closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. Contact curators Denise Nomura and Aniston Breslin at wildergallery@lamorindaarts.org.
