Artist Profile - Elizabeth Hagen

Elizabeth Hagen will be offering her hand tinted, color and black and white photograps at this year's art sale. This is Elizabeth's third year with us. We introduced you to her last year in this blog. Since that time, she has expanded her horizons a bit. Kerry and I were drawn to Elizabeth's black and white photos which she brings to life with her hand painting skills. She revitalizes a skill from the days when photos were only black and white, and the only color had to be added by hand. Using photos from her worldwide travels and her local finds, she captures the essence of the landscapes and history in film. Since last year's art sale, she has expanded her repertoire to include numerous color and black and white photos of botanics, local sights and hot air balloons.

Her black and white photos are printed on canvas or matte and hand painted with oil paints, adding color and texture. She uses other photos on note cards, thus offering her work in a wide variety of formats and prices.

Elizabeth's background as an economics major with experience in the mortgage banking industry is a far cry from her artistic calling now. As she says, "Good thing I got out when I did!" She says she was always interested in black and white photography but when she took a hand tinting class 15 years ago it, "renewed my passion and inspired me to try something different with my photos."


Elizabeth says this about her artistic process, " I may decide to paint a particular photo to bring out particular characteristics of the image. For example, one of my favorite photos is of the buildings in Venice with water and gondolas in the forefront. As Venice was built on water, the buildings have been through incredible wear and yet they are beautifully built and have wonderful detail. I use the black and white photo to give the old feel of Venice and add layers of color to the buildings to bring out the detail of the worn walls. "

You can find more of Elizabeth's work at our art studio next Friday and Saturday at our annual art sale or on her website.

We hope you enjoy her work as much as we do!