Interview with Artist: Elaine Balley

by Galina Kovshilovsky

Why do you do what you do?

I have a passion for color. By painting I get to play with the colors, mixing and mashing to my heart's delight. I also love shapes. Between the use of shape and color I create me own new shapes. Painting is where I can get lost in myself.

What's your background?

While in school my dad painted, two of my aunts painted, and my grandmother painted. I wanted to paint but didn't think I had any talent at drawing. I was always fascinated by color and loved to play with moving things around in my bedroom, painting furniture, making drapes, crafts, etc.

One day after my children started school I picked up some pastels and copied a picture out of a book. It was a picture of a storm and somehow I got the essence of it. My husband encouraged me and gave me lessons. He was a dedicated classic portrait artist who put me through my paces. I fell immediately in love and set up a space in the house to paint when I pleased. After five years of lessons and a few very intense way over my head workshops I went to work with the late Eudora Judd in Bakersfield, California, in order to learn flowers – most especially roses. That opened up my world. My mother watched my two little ones, I went to Eudora and painted all day every day for a week. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Color, color, color, luscious shapes, and some decent paintings!

After that there were more lessons and more workshops. I began teaching flower painting and lived in Italy where I studied with a noted artist in Rome for two years. I founded an artists' cooperative in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with 10 artists and a working gallery. We brought in artists for demos. We did very well.

I've sold my work all over the world and am now back in California looking to be part of an art community and have my work in a gallery or galleries.

What art do you most identify with?

I identify with color and shapes. I also love finding new tools with which to create interesting and unusual results.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

Flowers are a passion for me – their color and shape. Occasionally I like to do an interesting landscape. I like to take realism and abstract it some. I still want some realism but love to give it some abstraction.

What's your strongest memory of childhood?

My mother was jealous of the relationship between me and my father. He was an artist, saw things outside the box, was interested in talking with me and teaching me aesthetics, compassion, joy in life. She didn't like our discussions because she saw everything just as she thought it should be and was frightened by anything other than that.

Can you describe a real-life situation that inspired you?

When I went back to university at age 50 I took a required class "The Creative Process," which changed my life forever.

Why art?

Art is fluid. It's luscious, it's provocative, and it turns on all my creative juices.

What is your artistic outlook on life?

Art is what makes life civilized. It's the "light at the end of the tunnel." Art is what makes it worthwhile to get out of bed in the morning. It's all surrounding and is always there if you look for it. It is neither right or wrong. It is: "In the eye of the beholder."

What makes you angry?

Being told my opinions are wrong and I shouldn't feel what I feel.

What is your dream project?

My dream project was creating, having, and running the Artists' Cooperative Gallery. I loved working with all the artists, seeing my artwork light up someone's spirit, and having an outlet for my work.

What are your favorite, most inspirational place in the world?

Beautiful gardens with all the flowers blooming. Their colors used in artistic and interesting vignettes. Big flamboyant flower gardens!

What is your goal?

To have an outlet for my work.