Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liz Harris. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Liz, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I like to paint people! With people, you can tell a story. It adds a narrative to the painting that helps me stay interested and hopefully, the viewer as well. I usually have a surface story or universally shared experience that I am depicting. Its apparent in the situation the subject is in, their gestures and expressions. The hidden narrative takes a little to unravel.

Sometimes its a small bit of personal meaning, like this one: My painting titled “Elegance” shows a beautiful woman pulling her hair back as she is turning from a mirror. It is evident that although she takes care of her appearance, it doesn’t consume her thoughts. Her position and gestures are elegant as she is moving away. The title isn’t for how she looks however, but for her elegance of mind. This particular model, is my niece and subsequently, I know her well. She is highly intelligent, kind, resourceful and talented. To me, this painting shows not only my beautiful family member but a lovely soul.

Other times the narrative is a bit more involved. I have a painting of a young Maori woman in traditional regalia standing in front of a mountain at dusk. She is tying the traditional Poi balls at her waist. She looks solemn and strong. The viewer might see this and feel her strength, even construct a narrative in their head about who she is and why she is there. For me, the meaning is a complicated joining of two families across continents and time. Many years ago, my father Bruce lived in New Zealand as a christian missionary. He became friends with a Maori girl named Amy and her family. Fast forward about 20 years or so and he sent me from Texas to stay the summer with a friend of mine who was moving to New Zealand. I was a 13 year old and had never traveled without my parents. He notified his friend Amy that I would be coming over. She kindly met me and introduced me to some if her children. I lost contact with them when I returned to the States. Another 20ish years go by and my husband and I moved to Utah. A Maori family moved into the neighborhood about a street away. Cherie and I became fast friends. I paint my friends so it was only a matter of time before I asked her daughter to model for me. She had modeled for a few paintings when my dad passed away. I wanted to honor the Maori people at my dad’s funeral because they had always been such a huge part of his life. I called up Cherie and asked her what I could do. She came over and shared a Maori farewell song that she had sung at there mom’s funeral. As we were chatting, I mentioned that I had met a woman named Amy Taimona while in New Zealand. She stared, open mouthed at me. Time stopped as she said, “my mom’s name is Amy Taimona, she was baptized by a man named Bruce”. My painting “Windswept” shows Amy Taimona’s granddaughter in Maori regalia, the cape belongs to her family, the dress and skirt were from my dad’s time living there. The mountain behind her is a famous mountain here in Utah called Mount Timpanogos. She wears the hei matau necklace which means among other things, safe passage over water symbolizing the long journey from New Zealand and also over many years.

Liz, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always enjoyed visually consuming and creating art. I love a spontaneous approach to image creating. For years I was working primarily in watercolors. I meandered from large scale watercolor flowers to abstracts in oils. However, my main focus was on raising my children rather than on my art career. About 5 years ago, as I finished my last large abstract painting, I realized that I couldn’t paint even one more. I have always been drawn to portraiture and figurative work. I studied for two years with the artist Casey Childs, learning to draw and to understand form. After studying, I began to enter juried shows and garner recognition, showing at the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York, twice winning Awards of Excellence at the Portrait Society of America International show, and achieving Signature Status Award with portrait Society as well as awards in various other juried shows. My work has been juried into such shows as The Art Renewal Competition, Oil Painters of America, American Women Artists and National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society. I love to paint people formally in portraits but also going about daily life. I now work exclusively in Charcoal and Oils, taking commissions as well as painting the beauty I see in life. My own journey has been a little bit backwards compared to other artists in that usually an artist becomes more of an abstract painter as they mature, I started very loosely painting and have become more representational over time. Over the years, I have taught art privately and now have a charcoal drawing course available on Sentient Art Academy online. I stress to all my students that good drawing lies at the heart of every good painting. Through drawing you learn almost all you need to know about representational painting. It teaches design and composition, value, edges, anatomy and strong observation skills. Its much easier to learn all of those things with charcoal and paper than it is with paint and canvas. Many beginning artists jump into color too soon and when they do, its with too many colors. I equate it with trying to cook with all the spices instead of selecting a strong few that will bring delicious harmony to the painting. For this reason, I will be adding a color theory painting course to Sentient Academy in the coming months.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I have a child who is on the path to becoming a doctor. Each step is laid out for him. There may be a few choices to be made here and there but once determined, he knows what he needs to do next. When I decided to pivot from being a full time mother and part time abstract painter to a full time professional representational artist, I had no idea where to begin. I wish that there had been a place where I could go to find late stage artists, business savvy, technical training in photoshop, drawing and painting lessons, a community where I could ask questions, connect with artists worldwide and in my area, materials concerns, etc. You might answer that you can find all that online and you can. However, I couldn’t find it in one place and I didn’t even know what questions I should be asking. Fortunately, now, Sentient Art Academy and other online communities exist and are providing these services. Through Sentient, I have connected with local artists too and paint once a week either in studio or Plein air.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Nature is an ever renewing source of inspiration for me. I’m constantly observing and noting the feeling a scene provokes in me. Even when hiking, I’m always noticing the color, design and rhythms of what I’m seeing. In my work, I’m trying to share the feeling I had when I first experienced those things.

Contact Info:

• Website: lizharris.com
• Instagram: @lizharrisart
• Facebook: lizharrisart