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| ::Artwork:: In addition to commissions and small works, every year I try to continue working on 4-6 disparate series, or similarly themed groups of paintings. This year's pieces have been largely figure-based, with a couple of landscapes thrown in for spice :) As the multiple layers comprising each painting take a good bit of time to dry, I tend to work on 5-10 pieces simultaneously. Please check back often to view these pieces as they come to life :) Prints of Erin-Elizabeth A. Durham' paintings are available at Zazzle.com 2011 Works in Progress Classical Greek Mythology: Ensnaring Persephone (working title) Oil on Canvas, 16"x 20" (gallery wrapped) 
| December 2011: This is the first of the pieces that I am doing based on the photoshoots this fall with Brianna (photo of model, below). I will update this as I progress... :) 
As noted below, one of my daughter's soccer mates is a very beautiful girl named Brianna. I requested permission from her mother to paint her - her features are absolutely classic... | Classical Greek Mythology: Aphrodite Oil on Canvas, 16"x 20" (framed, 20" x 24") 
| December 2011: Finished Aphrodite (started over the summer 2011) 
Aphrodite is based largely on my buddy Cheri's face and form (though re-cast a bit more Greek than she is in reality). Next time she's in town I will be dragging her off for a photoshoot again for the rest of the poses I am imagining :) 
Declan enjoyed helping mommy decide how many doves to put on Auntie Cheri's painting :) 
Poor dear friends of mine, they do indeed get dragged off to get painted on a regular basis - one of the 'perks'? or maybe detriments? of being best of friends with an Artist :) | Classical Greek Mythology: The Philosophy of Phyrne subtitle: Awaiting the Judgement of the Aeropagus Oil on Canvas, 18"x 24" (framed, 24" x 30") 
Phyrne: 2010-2011 (complete) So you might ask, why is there a Gorgon head and Minotaurs in the background? Simply put, the Greeks could be quite nasty to young adults/late teens in the 'flower of youth' - especially females as they reached sexual maturity. Wives and daughters were largely viewed as chattel and not allowed to own property.... unless they released themselves from pseudo-slavery by becoming a courtesan. While courtesans were courted and flattered, they'd better not be overt about their beauty or their sexuality or they would be condemned for their behaviour (there are many references to this in ancient texts, including homilities on women smiling too much to show off perfect teeth, wearing clingy clothes to show off perfect forms, even darkening their eyebrows/lashes was vastly frowned upon... those ancient guys were downright stodgy). Well, Phyrne changed all that - famously beautiful, she broke all the rules of propriety - and though her behaviour set such a precedent that it is referenced throughout history, she did eventually get caged. The Minotaur was the beast that was fed the youth of Crete as soon as they hit their sexual maturity, but before they could become sexually active. And the Gorgon head represents Medusa, whose visage is on the Aegis of Athena, and is the "evil eye" symbol of the safe-keeper of the women and children against evil fate - the ancient Greeks didn't believe in Heaven per say - Heros went to live in the stars after death, but the common man just plain died. | December 2011: Finally finished my Phryne piece (started in fall 2010)  So the most beautiful woman of the ancient world was named Mnesarete. She became a courtesan in Athens, and her beauty was so incredible that the statues of Venus by Praxiteles are all said to based on her form. As a courtesan, she was nicknamed Phyrne ("Toad") for her golden yellow complexion - and she acquired so much wealth through the judicious use of her physical beauty that she  was able to offer to rebuild the walls of Thebes that were destroyed by Alexander the Great - if they would inscribe the new walls with the phrase "Destroyed by Alexander, restored by Phyrne the Courtesan" (the city elders turned down her offer).
Phyrne was all about joy and life and laughter - and just plain having a great time, especially when it tweaked the beards of the stodgy city elders.  But one day, Phyrne went "too far" - she led a revel through the streets of Athens in the name of fictious god of celebration, and landed herself in a pretty mess. She languished in jail a la Boethius until she was tried before the Areopagus, and they were going to sentence her to the death penalty for her blasphemy - but then one of her clients, Hypereides, argued that her beauty was so extraordinary that she was blessed by Aphrodite and that to kill her would be to defy a God. Phyrne was released, chastized, and promptly went back to her carefree ways... though she was much more careful not to annoy the authorities. | Brianna II Acrylic on Canvas, 11"x 14"  |    | Brianna I Acrylic on Canvas, 11"x 14" 
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One of my daughter's soccer mates is a very beautiful girl named Brianna. I requested permission from her mother to paint her - her features are absolutely classic... 
I have a couple of different series of her, going on right now - one is more Art Nouveau, the other is my Classical Greek Mythology... the photoshoots for the Classical Greek paintings came out gorgeous -- Brianna is a darling :) 
| Faux Vintage Movie Posters: Some Like It Hot Acrylic on Canvas, 18"x 24" (framed, 22" x 28")  | Feb 2011: This piece was created exclusively for the Golden Gala Charity Benefit Silent Auction in February 2011 at Mason Murer.  I strongly support charities benefitting children and pets  - every year I try to donate at least one painting to such wonderful institutions for their fund-raising events.
Diane at my day-job works with Adopt-A-Golden Atlanta - we chatted about it and 2011 just seemed a wonderful Marilyn year, hence the "Some Like It Hot" theme for this piece. First, I painted an 18x24 canvas with black gesso.  Next, I took white highly-pigmented wax and hand-lettered the title, "Some Like It Hot" Then I started hand-drawing images that I felt were central to the theme of the movie... followed by hand-lettering the names of the starring actors and the bottom tag-line. Afterwards, I covered the completed sketch on canvas in layers of blue, brown and red glaze. The final painting was overlaid in multiple soft layers of acrylic paint and gold leaf. Ready, Set, Go! | | | |
2010 Highlights.... December 2010: The year's almost done, and I cannot believe how quickly it flew by! Taking a bit of vacation the last few days of the year (stay-cation.. the very best kind of vacation! hahaha) and trying to wrap up a few paintings that've been in the works for the past several months, plus started a few new pieces :) Pretty done with Ballerinas for a while - starting some just plain Beautiful things. Painting what I want to see -- in the words of photographer Julia Margaret Cameron "I longed to arrest all beauty that came before me", and as a painter, that beauty exists only in my mind's eye... | 
Isabella with a white hat
16x20
Oil on Canvas I've been working on this one for about 6 months - getting close :) 
| Sophia Dreams of Dragons
18x24
Oil on Canvas One of my best friends, Ying, has a new baby girl. I've been imagining that little girl as a tween like Bella is now... Bella is constantly drawing and dreaming of D&D-flavour dragons, so I made little Sophia's dragons Chinese like her mommy :) | | November 2010: What a crazy fall! Been painting like a madwoman, working up a storm, trotting back and forth to soccer practices and games for 4 kiddies... thank goodness the final tournaments are done and work is slowing down for the holiday code freeze :) Been busy busy busy between Charity donations (from paintings to custom bar stools -- yes, Kevin did most of the hard work on that one *grin*) and getting shows up and shows ready to _go_ up... plus painting flowers and wine bottles and all kinds of lovely Christmas presents... oh my! :) |    | August 2010: We're home from Canada -- had a lovely time up at the lake :)
Kiddies are back in school, work is caught up from that *huge* pile that always accumulates when you go on vacation -- and now, finally, I am back to my paintbrushes :) | | Ballerina transitioning to arabesque (working title) Oil on Canvas, 8"x 10" 
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Working on a few more ballerina pieces... this ballerina started out with long hair and curls, but I felt that the pose was too softened 
- the little girl is supposed to be stiff and concentrating fiercly on getting that front foot placed, and that back leg ready to go up into an arabesque. The short hair allowed for a heightened focus on the stiffness of the arm and the curve of the neck as well as the tension in her neck and pectoral muscle as she braces to raise her back leg. 
| | Ballerina performing a rond de jambe en dohrs (working title) Oil on Canvas, 8"x 10" 
| | nënë nënë Oil on Canvas, 11"x14"  |  I've started a series inspired by a quote from the movie, 'The Crow.'
"Mother is the word for God on the lips of children"  This piece shows a mother and child in Albanian dress.  December update -- after it set, I removed the bottom part of the scarf, added a baby blanket and starting work on the baby hand :) Ready, set, go! | | July 2010: Having a lovely time painting up at Grandma's cottage on the lake in Canada this summer :) Several pieces in the works - stay tuned for more in-progress pics :) Ready, set, go! | | Ballerina - waiting her turn to plie (working title) Oil on Canvas, 8"x 10"  
| Hamadryad II (working title) Oil on Canvas, 22"x28" 
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| Up at the Lake at Grandma's House (Muskoka Lake District) Oil on Canvas Did a bunch of plein air paintings up at Grandma's cottage this summer :)  
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| | June 2010: It's the beginning of summer, and in the lazy Georgia twilight, the smell of honeysuckle on the vine floats up onto my back deck and through the french doors into my studio... This time of year is always when I do my romantic pieces... just something in the air, I guess :) | The Violin Player (The Gypsy) Acrylic on Canvas, 16"x 20" 
|  I started out by sketching the violin player directly onto the canvas using black wax. After I had completed the sketch, I laid down a separation layer of acrylic gloss medium/varnish.
Second, I mixed more gloss medium with a bunch of different blues and purples. I slathered  layers of different colours of high-gloss glaze over top of the sketch over a period of about a week. Next, I mixed raw iridescent blue pigment with a matte acrylic medium and painted on the treble and bass clef. Finally, after everything was dry, I picked out the undersketch of the violin player in filmy layers of bright white acrylic paint (high point). Ready, set, go! |
| I've really been enjoying creating these pieces - Faux Vintage Movie Posters and Playbills are a blast to create! I watch the clips and movies and look through all the old playbills to come up with something entirely unique. No, there does not exist anywhere on the planet an actual poster that looks like this. I made it up. And Yes, I compose and sketch it all by hand - I do not work it out in Photoshop first, and there is nothing brought directly into my work from the original piece. It's all from my hand and my eye - no machines needed, thanks! *grin* Faux Vintage Movie Posters: Gone With the Wind Acrylic on Canvas, 18"x 24" (framed, 22" x 28") 
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May 2010: This piece was created exclusively for the Fashion for Charities Event "We Want to Know What Love Is" Charity Benefit Silent Auction in May 2010 at the Fox Theatre, benefitting the Fragile Kids Foundation, Childkind, and The Center for Children & Young Adults. I strongly support charities benefitting children - every year I try to donate at least  one painting to such wonderful institutions for their fund-raising events. Carolyn, one of the moms of the little boys on Trenon's soccer team, was telling me about her work at the Fragile Kids Foundation. I am very happy to have been able to contribute a piece to benefit this incredible cause :) 
Other pieces in this series have included Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Phantom Of The Opera, and a Houdini playbill Ready, set, go! |
| Faux Movie Posters: Gone With the Wind Acrylic on Canvas, 18"x 24" (framed, 22" x 28") 
|  May 2010: This piece was created exclusively for the Bark For Art Charity Benefit Silent Auction in May 2010 at Mason Murer. I strongly support charities benefitting children and pets - every year I try to donate at least one painting to such wonderful institutions for their fund-raising events. Debbie from my old day-job at GE suggested the Atlanta Lab Rescue charity to me last year.
Other pieces in this series have included Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Phantom Of The Opera, and a Houdini playbill Ready, set, go! |
| Faux Movie Posters: Casablanca Acrylic on Canvas, 18"x 24" (framed, 22" x 28") 
|  February 2010: This piece was created exclusively for the Golden Gala Charity Benefit Silent Auction in February 2010 at Mason Murer. I strongly support charities benefitting children and pets - every year I try to donate at least one painting to such wonderful institutions for their fund-raising events. Diane at my day-job works with Adopt-A-Golden Atlanta and she suggested the theme "Casablanca" for this piece. I think that it turned out wonderfully :)
Other pieces in this series have included Gone With The Wind, The Wizard of Oz, The Phantom Of The Opera, and a Houdini playbill Ready, set, go! |
| More Individual pieces that I am working on... An Old Woman Sitting on the Church Steps Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20" 
| This picture is based on a photograph taken by my dear friend Cheri, whilst on vacation in Ecuador. The bright colours of the old woman's clothes contrasted sharply with the drab colours of her surroundings - I was instantly intrigued and started painting :)  |
| | The Consolation of Philosophy Acrylic on Canvas, 18"x24" 
Eventually this will be a larger painting - probably 40x60 :) | March 2010: Started painting first studies for concept "Consolation of Philosophy". First studies are in black wax crayon and white acrylic paint on canvas... Ready, set, go! 
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| All images and content copyright 2009-2010, Erin-Elizabeth A. Durham
For more information, please contact artist@erinelizabeth.org | |
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