Artists of 2075: Elizabeth Kelly

We meet St Ives local and talented artist, Elizabeth Kelly to talk about nature, art, food, and family.

How would you describe your artistic style? 

My artistic style is delicate and organic, I love working with the natural textures of the watercolour paper and the different effects that the watercolour paints create. I am mostly inspired by the botanical world around me, painting flowers, leaves and animals. I also like painting architecture, the geometry, history and linework interest me… I prefer painting with watercolours though I also enjoy experimenting with traditional Japanese and Chinese style methods of ink painting. 

Talk about your business and how you created it. 

I studied a Bachelor of Design which was a multi-disciplinary course…When I graduated I ended up in graphic design working on publication design and then corporate design, so I gained a lot of experience in those fields. 

When I had my first child, Aiden, who is now 12, I was on maternity leave and then chose not to return to the 9 to 5 job and focus on freelancing. As a freelancer I had a lot more freedom to take on jobs that fitted with my experience but also experiment with more creative things and spend time painting which I loved. So that is how I ended up designing for kids parties and then moving into creating wedding invitations and event decor. 

Designing invitations suited me really well as I can match my print design skills with my painting skills and respond to the different style of each event. Coming from that graphic design background meant I am most comfortable doing custom work, identifying what’s important to convey or to tell a story through the design. 

Some of the briefs can be challenging in a good way where you need to try and combine two different personalities together into one cohesive whole. Each brief allows me to create something new, explore a different style or colour palette. 

In the past when I was only doing corporate design it got very monotonous and dull, now when I do something for a business I’m often picking up my pencils as a starting point, sketching out ideas and rough drafts before I work on the polished final piece on the computer — its a more enjoyable process than it used to be. 

How long have you lived in St Ives? 

We moved to St Ives mid-way through 2022 so we’ve been living here for 4 years now.

What do you like about the area? 

I love that we’re surrounded by bushland so it’s very leafy. It’s easy to get to the city, or across to the beaches, up north or inland to where I have other friends and family living. So it’s very convenient for someone who likes to get out and explore or meet up with others. Our house has a beautiful treetop view, it’s very restful watching the birds play and being nestled amongst nature. 

What are some of your favourite places to eat, drink, or visit for whatever reason. 

My favourite cafes in the area would be Somewhere North and the Wyatt in Gordon, I like the creativity of their menus. The whole family really love Sushi Village at Gordon as it’s very authentic and you can get some Japanese dishes that are hard to find elsewhere, like the cold spicy Maze Udon. Our other favourite is the Indian Accent — we love sitting out amongst the fairy lights enjoying a cold drink, a curry and some dahi puri. 

When we had just bought our house and were in the process of moving, they had the annual orchid show on at the St Ives Showground. I bought a few and they did really well in my garden, so now it’s become an annual tradition for me. I love flowers. Before my daughter started school I took her a few times to the wild play sessions at the Wildflower garden, which was nice. we’ve taken the kids out boating on Lane Cove River which is another good outdoor activity to experience. 

What's good about bringing up a family in St Ives? 

We chose to move to St Ives because the public schools here are so good and with the age gap between my two children I liked the fact that the primary school is right next to the high school. We can walk to school each morning, which I think is important, to get that fresh air and exercise instead of crawling through traffic on a long commute. 

I also liked the fact that the shopping centre was big enough to have a good variety of stores and a wide selection of fresh food options without it being too big like the massive Westfield type shopping centres are. There are places open in the afternoon for cake or ice-cream as a post-school treat, and with the park and library there too it’s quite social, which is appealing.  

See Elizabeth Kelly’s art and engage her services at: elkprints.com