Artist Statement

The first experience a viewer has with my work is of vastness, calm and movement. For me, a piece isn’t finished until it feels like the painting is larger than the actual canvas; a window into else ware.

I have always been a daydreamer. So for me, creating art is more an exploration of my inner world than a way of representing the external one. I have an idea or feeling in mind and I employ every trick and tool to push, pull, scratch away and build up layers of paint until the subject starts to emerge. Any method of moving paint is fair game; if a toothbrush is the best way than I will use it. Often, the paint will move in ways I don’t expect, but it will describe the idea I am after better than if I had done it intentionally. It is learning to trust and recognize these happy accidents that makes painting so thrilling to me.

I am a city girl at heart but I spent most of my life by the Shenandoah Mountains so I have an innate love for nature. Currently I’m working on bringing this love of natural life and movement to animal portraits. My goal is to make a personality dance on the canvas the way a thought or a feeling can.

A.E. Irvine, BFA

Audrey Elizabeth Irvine, Elizabeth to her friends and family, was born in Texas but lived most of her life at the foot of the Shenandoah Mountains in Charlottesville, Virginia. Growing up she spent her time performing in theater and singing groups, both of which forged a love of connecting with others through the arts. Today she uses her art in much the same way; to communicate, influence and connect with others.
When first seeing Elizabeth’s work it is open and contemplative; a conversation with the viewer. Her paintings move and shift, as if the subject is a feeling or thought rather than a concrete thing. It’s also clear that she enjoys the tactile nature of paint. Her work explores different ways of applying and manipulating oils, acrylics and watercolors with results that are often unexpected.

On a fundamental level her art is about recognizing and folding those happy accidents into the subject of her painting. Her biggest challenge is in letting go of her stiflingly perfectionism. “My art is a constant struggle against perfectionism. Happy accidents seem to be a training program to keep me from taking things too seriously. Otherwise, I obsess.” To keep her art flexible and open to the unexpected she works mainly in oils which allow her to add and remove paint easily, pushing and pulling the piece until it is balanced.

Elizabeth did her undergraduate work at James Madison University and received a Bachelors of Fine Arts with honors in painting and drawing. It was here that she expanded her knowledge of the fundamentals of art, but it wasn’t until later, during a yearlong intensive studio practice and curating course at Goldsmiths University in London, that she learned to trust herself and push her art. “Painting is like stretching my muscles. I push through what’s comfortable. I’ll go through long periods of being irritated and angry with the piece I’m working on. Then, all the sudden the pieces fall into place and the result is something beyond myself.”

At Goldsmiths she explored not only why she wanted to create art but also what she wanted to say through it. Her studies led her to art and artists who would inspire her own work. For example, the openness and simplicity of Vija Celmins work is a huge influence on Elizabeth’s art today, as is the depth and emotion of Francis Bacon. While in London she also had the opportunity to work at Christies Auction House for a brief internship. The experience gave her a unique glimpse at the range and breadth of art and artists in the world.

Elizabeth has won several awards for her work including a best in show award at the Park Gable Gallery’s Annual Juried Show. She is presently working at ARTBEAT in Arlington, Massachusetts, a store and studio dedicated to the creative mind. She enjoys working with parents and children to create something unique and she hopes to continue working with children in the coming years.

Press:

” ‘Tracks of a Thought’ is so delicate, like thought itself – ephemeral, on the surface, passing by,” says Stuart, an artist who teaches at Beverley Street Studio in Staunton. “I thought the work embodied the idea and feeling of ‘thought’ so well. It’s an abstract painting, but then it’s not completely abstract. The subject and the style of painting merge together.” – Daily Report Online