Elizabeth Pratt


About Elizabeth Pratt
Elizabeth Pratt - American Art Collector
Elizabeth Pratt - Cpe Arts Review
American Art Collector
Elizabeth Pratt
 
Elizabeth Pratt
I first saw Elizabeth Pratt's work featured in a newspaper and her brilliant colors just hooked me. I saved the article and 15 years later I got an opportunity to meet and own a few of her works. What a blast! I love the 'textures' in her watercolors and the feeling of contentment I get looking at them.
— Kinga Salierno
       
 

The Process
For over 60 years, I have been experimenting with watercolor techniques.
I’ve gotten various textures by applying paint to hot press paper through crushed tissue paper and then removing the tissue.
I’ve also had success by applying paint to the paper and then pressing crushed tissue, wax paper or clear plastic wrap into the wet paint. (The top papers are removed and discarded.)
I’ve rolled a brayer over wet paint and put paint on a brayer to roll it onto the paper.
I’ve brushed color and India ink onto paper, partially dried it with a hair dryer and then sprayed it with water to wash off the damp paint while leaving tints in patterns.
I’ve displaced wet paint by sprinkling it with water or grains of salt.
I’ve taken a wet painting-in-progress, flattened it against a piece of plexiglass, and gone back to work on what was left on the paper.
I’ve applied globs of color and tilted the paper until it ran.
I’ve splattered a second color onto a first.
I’ve glazed a thin layer over paint over dry color.
I’ve had fun.

— Elizabeth Pratt


“I’ve been selling my work for 65 years. More than ever, color is important in my paintings. I use it to set up vibrations and to create moods. To enhance the effects of the renowned Cape Cod light, my colors have become stronger and my contrasts greater.

Fluid and transparent, watercolor allows me to spontaneously capture the motion of the waves and currents that surround this peninsula. The expanses of sky, the reflections of the sky in the water, the natural flow of the wind, all lend themselves to the free expression afforded by this medium.

As long as I have been painting, I feel the rush of excitement each time the first colors go down and know I am going to going to discover something new.”

   

 

Coast Guard Cliffs
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 16.5 x 23.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Through the Sea Gardens
watercolor
25 x 19
framed 33 x 29.57
$1,600

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Growing Old Together
watercolor
13.5 x 18.5
framed 21 x 26
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Across the Provincelands
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 19.75 x 26.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Just Looking
watercolor
13.5 x 22
framed 20 x 29.5
$1,000

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Welcoming Summer
watercolor
19 x 12
framed 26.5 x 19.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Leading Out
watercolor
12 x 19
framed 19.5 x 26.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Clear Light
watercolor
22 x 13
framed 29.5 x 20.75
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Harbor Light
watercolor
12 x 19
framed 20 x 26.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

In the Treetops
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 20 x 26.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

In the Run
watercolor
22 x 19
framed 29.5 x 26.5
$1,600

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Homage to Audubon
watercolor
19 x 15
framed 26.5 x 22.5
$1,100

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Coming In
watercolor
12 x 18.5
framed 19.5 x 26
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Digging at Dusk
watercolor
19 x 13
framed 26.5 x 20
$1,000

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Shining Through
watercolor
22 x 28
framed 30 x 36
$1,950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Peaceable Kingdom
watercolor
19 x 23
framed 28 x 32
$1,600

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Celebrating Color
watercolor
13 x 20
framed 20 x 26
$1,000

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Reflected Sky
watercolor
13 x 20
framed 20.5 x 27
$950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Of Fish and Foam
watercolor
19 x 12
framed 26.5 x 19.5
$1,050

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

The Swim Team
watercolor
19.5 x 12.5
$1,050

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Majestic Great Blues
watercolor
25.5 x 19
framed 33.5 x 27
$1,950

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

A New Day
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 19.5 x 26
$1,050

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

A Pastel World
watercolor
14.5 x 21.5
framed 21.5 x 29
$1,150

Elizabeth Pratt - Cape Cod Artist
   

 

Provincelands
watercolor
15 x 19
framed 22 x 26.5
$850

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

The Salt Pond
watercolor
14 x 22
framed 21 x 29.5
$1,100

Elizabeth Pratt

 

Dunescape
Watercolor
15.5 x 22
framed 23 x 29.5
$1,000

Elizabeth Pratt
    “The intricate branches crossing the dunes like a delicate layer of lace while the lavender and blue sky showing vibrant against the warmth of the dune created a magnificent composition of form and color.”
   

 

Family Values
Watercolor
22.5 x 15
framed 26.5 x 21
$1,200

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

Sweeping the Crest
Watercolor
10.5 x 21.5
framed 16.5 x 27.5
$950

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

Out to the Island
Watercolor
13 x 22
framed 19 x 28
$1,300

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

Taking the Sun II
Watercolor
18 x 22
framed 25 x 29
$1,500

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

The Sea's Rhythm
Watercolor
Image Size 10 x 13
framed 16 x 19
$550

Elizabeth Pratt
   

 

Rough Seas
Watercolor
Image Size 15 x 20
framed 21 x 26
$1,000

Elizabeth Pratt

Elizabeth PrattElizabeth Pratt studied at the Dayton Art Institute and earned her B.A. in Fine Arts at  William and Mary. She completed workshops with nationally-known watercolorists and studied the masters of painting in Europe's great museums.

Elizabeth had the first of over 50 solo shows at the Spectrum Gallery in Washington, D.C., where she was a founding member. Ms. Pratt's work has been acquired by many government agencies, courts, corporations and collectors.

Ms. Pratt is a Copley Master and has juried membership in Audubon Artists, New York City and the New England Watercolor Society. She has taught at the Truro Center for the Arts, Castle Hill; the Creative Arts Center; the Cape Museum of Fine Arts; and the Cahoon Museum.

A full-time artist with a spontaneous style evolving as the images develop, Ms. Pratt keeps her work continually fresh and alive in a range of subject matter treated with new techniques.

Her work has been featured in many periodicals including American Art Collector, Artist Magazine, Cape Cod Times, Cape Codder, Arts & Antiques, Boston Magazine, Review Magazine and Cape Arts Review. She will also be featured in the August 2008 issue of American Art Collector . Her work and techniques have been covered in books including The Art of Watercolor by Charles LeClair, The Best of Watercolor by Betty Lou Schlem and Tom Nicola, and nine others.

Artist's Statement
Since my early training, watercolor has challenged and excited me. For over 50 years, I have worked primarily in that medium. My aim has never been to become more proficient in realism but rather to explore the limits of watercolor's possibilities. I strive to let the paints' characteristics rule, the drips, bleeds and blooms be apparent for visual enjoyment.

The invention of hot press papers in the 1960s expanded the medium's ability to achieve amazing textures. The paint stays on the surface and can be manipulated with various tools as well as with brushes. Color vibrancy, abstract shapes, tactile representations and lighting extremes are enhanced without a preset plan. I let the medium lead me.

The works evolve on the paper through "accidents"-and my imagination. Paintings of fish and birds are ideal for this as the subjects can be woven in during the final steps towards completion of a piece. Landscapes begin as abstracts and the nature I know emerges. If painterly effects appear in jeopardy, I stop and leave the essence.

These methods have been transmitted in all my teaching. I stress how to see differently, how to cherish what is developing on the page, how to push it to the utmost.

Even now, having completed over 2,000 watercolors, I feel the rush of excitement when the first colors go down, flowing freely, uncontrolled, meandering in a way more beautiful than I could have imagined. I quickly tilt, drop in more colors, imprint, spray, spatter, continually looking for the direction the painting is taking. It's a game. Of nerve. Of spontaneous decisions. The paint always wins and I am glad to be on its team.

Books

  • The Art of Watercolor, by Charles LeClair, Watson Guptil, 1994, revised 1999
  • The Best of Watercolor, Betty Lou Schlem and Tom Nicolas, Volumes I, II, and III
  • Rockport Publishers (for all of the following)
    Watercolor Expressions
    Painting Composition
    Floral Inspirations
    Places in Watercolor
    People in Watercolor


National Juried Exhibitions

  • Audobon Artists of New York City, 1994 to 2003
  • Adirondack's National Exhibition, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • San Diego Watercolor Society National Open
  • Face of America - Contemporary Portraits in Watercolor
  • Academic Artists, 1993, 1994
  • Georgia Watercolor Society National
  • Mississippi National Exhibition
  • Rocky Mountain National, 1996
  • Montana National
  • North American Open Exhibition
  • The Face of America, National Portrait Exhibition 1994

Solo Shows

  • The Copley Society
  • The Art Complex Museum
  • The Maryland Academy of Art
  • Spectrum Gallery — Georgetown
  • Radford University
  • Stonehill college
  • Cape Cod Conservatory
  • AddisonArtGallery
  • Cape Cod Museum of Art
 

Group Shows

  • The New Bedford Museum
  • Guild of Boston Artists
  • The Fitchburg Museum
  • The Berkshire Museum
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Mississippi Museum
  • The USIA Traveling Exhibit Overseas
  • Copley Society Shows
  • Falmouth Annual
  • nd Annual Northeast New England Watercolor Society
  • AddisonArtGallery
  • Cahoon Museum
  • The Greater Washington Invitational
  • The Arts Club, Washington D.C.
  • The Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
  • Boston City Hall
  • The Harvard Club, Boston
Articles
  • The Cape Codder
  • Arts and Antiques
  • Boston Magazine, 1986
  • The Review Magazine, 1988
  • Artist Magazine, 1988
  • The Cape Cod Times
  • Palette Talk, American Artist Magazine, 1993
  • American Art Collector, 2007
  • Cape Arts Review, 2008
  • American Art Collector, 2008

Permanent Collections

  • The Cape Museum of Fine Arts
  • The International Monetary Fund
  • The United States Catholic Conference
  • The Office of the Director of the CIA
  • Sperry Univac
  • Citi Bank
  • Superior Court of the District of Columbia
  • The National Association of Manufacturers
  • First National Bank of Boston
  • The Cahoon Museum
  • Stonehill College
  • National Society of Professional Engineers
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