Lizbeth Shelley paints in a studio in Copake, New York. Brought up in Illinois, Lizbeth moved to New York City, specifically to study art. She trained at the School of Visual Arts and The New York Studio School of Painting and Drawing, then earned a Cum Laude Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and Education at New York University in 1996. After graduation, Lizbeth became a Visiting Artist teaching a unique curriculum developed for New York City’s Studio in a School Special Programs. She assisted the nationally known landscape painter, John Gundelfinger, and she developed and taught an art curriculum for the Village Community School’s “After School Art Workshops.” Currently Lizbeth holds a position at Village Community School as their Lower School Art Director.
Asked to describe her painting process, Lizbeth notes, “I painted for many years in a semi-abstract style capturing people, places and things in the moment, trying for the brief essence of an experience.” She works in a loose painterly manner, always exploring the essential color, texture and movement of the images that intrigue her. More recently, Lizbeth has become fascinated with simply built rural structures in Columbia County. She has been working on a series of house paintings, specific buildings that evoke visceral feelings of strength, pride, or sadness. Made on wooden panels from a local lumberyard, these paintings develop in many layers of translucent paint, conveying the life of these painted structures through color, texture and brushstroke.
