Elaine Boylan
View Gallery
My Work
Inspired by travel, culture, history, and nature, I create paintings of decorative still lifes, sunlit landscapes, cityscapes, interiors, and exteriors.
The French word ‘trouvaille’ describes the theme of my work - unexpected magical moments we experience on our travels - perhaps a captivating vista, a hidden alley, a quirky cafe, a charming shop facade, a display of textiles, or a beautiful piece of pottery. Inspirational travels can be to far off places, or just wandering around my local area here on the Bodrum peninsula.
My compositions have a sense of realism but are personal interpretations that capture the feeling of a place, and the beauty and personal symbolism of objects and botanical subjects.
As a former textile designer, colour, pattern, and detail continue to be important elements of my work.
Using mixed-media, I explore colours, patterns, shapes, and textures found in cityscapes, landscapes, streets, buildings, architectural details, and objects.
My pieces evoke memories and inspire wanderlust by capturing the beauty in the ordinary and overlooked, scenes we pass by but don’t always ‘see’.
Bio
Elaine Boylan makes artwork that evokes memories. Her decorative, colourful, landscapes and cityscapes find beauty in the ordinary.
She works in mixed media, using a collage of patterned papers, book pages, and ephemera collected on her travels, combined with paint. Artworks are layered, with details that continue to reveal themselves.
Elaine was born and raised in Scotland. As a child, she dreamed of living in a sunlit place with white houses – a place she had seen in an artwork. She did not realise at the time, but that place was on the Aegean coast. Fulfilling that dream, she arrived in Bodrum feeling immediately at home. This was after a journey that involved studying printed textile design, time spent in London design studios, then working as a freelance designer in Glasgow, followed by a long career in art and design education. Now she is focused on making art in her garden studio, drawing inspiration from the colours, light, and atmosphere of her surroundings, as well as her interest in travel, culture, and history. Her work reflects the beauty of everyday life and the spirit of different places.
