Meet Elizabeth Conley | Artist & Art Therapist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Conley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
I collect reference photos almost every day. I have made it a habit to stop and take a photo when I encounter a subject that stands out to me. If you’re familiar with my work, you can probably guess that a lot of these are plants, clouds, and natural landscapes. A lot of times, this happens spontaneously; I might be walking into a restaurant and see a blue agave with the sun casting lovely shadows all over its leaves. Other times, I have the opportunity to travel and experience a natural park or other spectacular landmark; that typically sparks a lot of creative inspiration in me, and it takes up more space on my camera roll.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Two of my college professors inspired me to think differently about the way I create. One told me that I had the skills to paint any subject I wanted but I needed to find a new way to do it because every subject had already been painted.
I loved this challenge.
The next semester, my drawing professor had us consider, “what is a drawing? What makes a mark?” And I spent the rest of the semester creating elaborate “drawings” by punching tiny holes in paper.
I like to think that my work rewards the viewer that takes more time to look at it. My current body of work is created with embroidery floss, but it isn’t readily apparent from a distance. Some people think my thread pieces are made from paint or ink; I have even had people say they thought one of my pieces was a photograph. To me, mark making and materiality are just as significant as the rest of the elements of art.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would go out for coffee at Cherry Coffee, Roots Coffeehouse, or Race Street Coffee. We would eat at Spice, Enciladas Ole, Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar, Teddy Wongs, and Pie Tap. Wine at The Holly. If the weather was nice, we would go to the Botanic Gardens or the Zoo. Otherwise, we might peruse the Kimbell or the Modern. For an evening out, we would see a show at Tulips after dinner and drinks at Tinies or the bar at Dryce Hotel.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Addison, says he’s my biggest fan. Even when we aren’t together, he will show my work to someone he just met. Later, he’ll tell me about meeting someone and how they “really like your art.” He is a musician and an undercover visual artist, too. He loves sound boarding and his encouragement to explore ideas has often given me the gumption to “go for it.” Whether he’s helping me to find ways to free up time to create, helping me prepare for a show, or networking on my behalf, I consider him my number one supporter (and I have a lot of reason to believe he is my biggest fan). So, this shoutout goes to him.

Website: https://elizabethconleystudio.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethconleystudio?igsh=MWttMnM2MjFkcndmcw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr