Art Chowder January | February, Issue 19 | Page 21

ARTIST
ELSIE
STEWART
By Karen Mobley
Psalm 143:5-6 “ I remember the days of old. I
meditate on all your works. I muse on the works
of thy hands. I stretch forth my hands to you.
My soul longs for you like a thirsty land.”
I
met with Elsie Stewart at Craftsman Cellars in Spokane and
then again in her cheery turquoise living room in the West Central
neighborhood of Spokane. She has exhibited her work at Craftsman
and this is where she meets up with other local artists on occasion to
have a Friday night glass of wine and a talk about art.
Elsie has lived in the West Central neighborhood of Spokane for
many years and her studio and house are full of her work and the
paintings, sculptures and photographs she collects from other artists.
She has been an artist since she could remember. Her parents put
up her art all over their house along with the works of her siblings.
Her dad painted Michigan landscapes with birch trees as well as
the human figure. She comes from a family of artists – her brother
is a sculptor, her sister a watercolorist; two nieces are artists. Her
daughter is Natalie Utley, a landscape painter here in Spokane.
Elsie likes to paint large pictures mostly on canvas. She was
animated in talking and gesturing about how she always “runs out of
room in smaller paintings.” While she studied graphic design and
advertising, she has worked mostly in acrylic and pastel. She says,
“I work with acrylic because I like the way it feels. I like working on
canvas because it is bouncy. I like how I can layer the paint — thick
or thin, building things up. It dries fast and it is easy to change it up
if you change your mind.” Her works are painterly and rich, echoing
the painters she admires like Egon Schiele, the Austrian protégé of
Gustav Klimt.
January | February 2019
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