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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 |
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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
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“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.”
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Coast Guard Cliffs
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 16.5 x 23.5
$950 |
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Through the Sea Gardens
watercolor
25 x 19
framed 33 x 29.57
$1,600 |
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Growing Old Together
watercolor
13.5 x 18.5
framed 21 x 26
$950 |
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Across the Provincelands
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 19.75 x 26.5
$950 |
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Just Looking
watercolor
13.5 x 22
framed 20 x 29.5
$1,000 |
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Welcoming Summer
watercolor
19 x 12
framed 26.5 x 19.5
$950 |
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Leading Out
watercolor
12 x 19
framed 19.5 x 26.5
$950 |
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Clear Light
watercolor
22 x 13
framed 29.5 x 20.75
$950 |
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Harbor Light
watercolor
12 x 19
framed 20 x 26.5
$950 |
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In the Treetops
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 20 x 26.5
$950 |
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In the Run
watercolor
22 x 19
framed 29.5 x 26.5
$1,600 |
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Homage to Audubon
watercolor
19 x 15
framed 26.5 x 22.5
$1,100 |
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Coming In
watercolor
12 x 18.5
framed 19.5 x 26
$950 |
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Digging at Dusk
watercolor
19 x 13
framed 26.5 x 20
$1,000 |
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Shining Through
watercolor
22 x 28
framed 30 x 36
$1,950 |
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Peaceable Kingdom
watercolor
19 x 23
framed 28 x 32
$1,600 |
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Celebrating Color
watercolor
13 x 20
framed 20 x 26
$1,000 |
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Reflected Sky
watercolor
13 x 20
framed 20.5 x 27
$950 |
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Of Fish and Foam
watercolor
19 x 12
framed 26.5 x 19.5
$1,050 |
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The Swim Team
watercolor
19.5 x 12.5
$1,050 |
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Majestic Great Blues
watercolor
25.5 x 19
framed 33.5 x 27
$1,950 |
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A New Day
watercolor
12.5 x 19
framed 19.5 x 26
$1,050 |
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A Pastel World
watercolor
14.5 x 21.5
framed 21.5 x 29
$1,150 |
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Provincelands
watercolor
15 x 19
framed 22 x 26.5
$850 |
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The Salt Pond
watercolor
14 x 22
framed 21 x 29.5
$1,100 |
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Dunescape
Watercolor
15.5 x 22
framed 23 x 29.5
$1,000
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“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.” |
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Family Values
Watercolor
22.5 x 15
framed 26.5 x 21
$1,200
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Sweeping the Crest
Watercolor
10.5 x 21.5
framed 16.5 x 27.5
$950
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Out to the Island
Watercolor
13 x 22
framed 19 x 28
$1,300
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Taking the Sun II
Watercolor
18 x 22
framed 25 x 29
$1,500
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The Sea's Rhythm
Watercolor
Image Size 10 x 13
framed 16 x 19
$550 |
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Rough Seas
Watercolor
Image Size 15 x 20
framed 21 x 26
$1,000
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Elizabeth
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
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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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