Elizabeth Bartel

I want to start this post by saying that I have no
knowledge of art. Read on if you dare.

Now that I've said that, I want to say that my boyfriend Brian's friend, Elizabeth Bartel, is the best artist I have ever seen. I also know that seeing a painting posted on someone's website is not the same as seeing it in person. But I think you'll enjoy seeing some of her paintings, and so with her permission, I'd like to share some with you.

The painting on the left is called Paralyzed. I love it. The colors are so beautiful and so vivid when you see them in person it just takes your breath away. This one is one of Brian's favorites.

I always get amazed when people I know prove themselves to be really talented. Whether it's singing, painting, playing a sport, it's just really cool to learn more about people and see where their talents lie. At the same time, it's so hard not to creep them out by being a fan of their work. I'm not going to make Liz a hair doll, but this girl fascinates me.

The painting on the right, Repose, for me, is almost a completely opposite in terms of the way it makes me feel. I think it's gorgeous, but for very different reasons than Paralyzed. The warm color tones are gone in this one, but there's so much more passion. Liz really has a gift for capturing the female form and giving so much life to it, even in paintings without a lot of movement.

When people ask me why I like hockey so much, it's hard for me to give them an answer. That's the same way that I feel about Liz's work. I know I love it, on some very basic level that I can't really understand. It's very soothing to be in the presence of the stuff I'm looking at when I'm there.

The next painting I wanted to talk about is My Woman, the installation piece on the left. This was the first piece of Liz's work that I had ever been exposed to, and to this day I think it's the piece I'm most impressed by, in terms of sheer ingenuity and creativity.

My Woman is a collection of canvases depicting different parts of a woman showering. It is temporarily (I hope) installed in the corner of her bedroom, with each of the canvases being hung from the ceiling at different levels behind an actual shower door. When the door is opened, the sounds of falling shower water start to play. When you are able to look closely at each individual canvas, you see that any of these pieces could stand alone, outside of the entire piece, as its own painting. When you take in the enormity of the entire piece, it is a really beautiful work.

I think the thing that impresses me most about Liz's paintings is the fact that Liz isn't as impressed by them as I am. The talent is so imbued in her that she doesn't get impressed by her work. She gets happy. And I think that's one of the most gratifying things about knowing Liz, is knowing that the work she gives life to, gives life to her. It makes her happy to create, to get her hands in the paint and just make life.

You can see lots more of her work at her website:

http://phobos.ramapo.edu/~ebartel/lizart/artmainpage.htm

Thanks for taking the time to read my longest blog post yet, I promise I'll give you a short one next time around...