We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Dryden a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Elizabeth, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I found my purpose in creating art that glorifies God’s creation and showcases the beauty in everything around us. I mainly focus my work on animals and plants of the Southwest and try to show nature and the things we see on a daily basis in a new light. God is the ultimate artist and everything around you, no matter where you are located, you can see His beauty that was created just for you to enjoy. I love to spread that message within my work and I believe that is truly my purpose in life.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I like to bring joy into people’s lives through my mixed media Western contemporary paintings. That is the most special and exciting part of being an artist for me. Connecting with people and bringing happiness into their lives through my art is a feeling that is hard to beat. Often I create paintings of animals dressed as cowboys or Indians, out in unique situations. I recently created a body of work depicting buffalo cowboys, channeling my inner Buffalo Bill Cody, who is one of my beloved ancestors. I love the idea of combining the old West with the new West, and what that looks like as far as color, subject matter, and overall feel of what its like to be a modern day cowboy. So much has changed in our society and holding to the cowboy way is becoming more and more rare as time passes by into the future. Aside from galleries that showcase my work, fine art festivals, and selling online, I have recently partnered with several other brands. I designed the first pair of commercial boots for Dixon Boot Company’s women’s line, partnered with Sweetwater Pillow Company where they feature my paintings on 17 fine leather pillows in their collection, and in August I will be coming out with 3 scarves with my art with Fringe Scarves. I am excited to see where these new avenues of showcasing my art will take me!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Creating a relationship with your client is super important for them to connect with you and the artwork. Without my clients I would not be able to be a full-time artist being able to do what I love on a daily basis. I believe I developed these skills while working at the flagship Neiman Marcus for years before being able to paint full-time. We were taught how to treat clients and to establish a long lasting relationship that most often turned into great friendships. Another quality that has been impactful on my journey as an artist is keeping an open mind and a sense of wonder about the world around me. I try to slow down in life and notice the little things, like a vine of flowers growing out of a crack in an old building and asking myself a million questions about this one little scenario. “How did it get there?”, “How long has it been there?” and noticing every detail about a situation that most don’t even take the time to notice in their busy lives.. It is amazing what you can see every day if you open your mind to the beauty that is always around you hidden in plain sight. This quality creates a lot of my inspiration for creating art. Another quality I have is to trust the process of being an artist and not be afraid to get out there and show your work to others. I think often times as artists it can be scary to finish a piece and then share it with the world, rather it be on social media or an art show at a festival or gallery- being confident and having a desire to share will only enrich others and take you further with your art career.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My mother and grandmother (when she was still alive) have been the most helpful and supportive in following my dreams to become an artist over the years. I am very lucky to have had such wonderful people cheering me on and encouraging me not to give up and to stay with it, even during some really hard times. As a child I would be so excited to finish a drawing and give it to my grandmother and to see her overly excited face as she went over every detail of the drawing with me. She would treat it like a “masterpiece” and hang it in her home for everyone to see. It made me feel like I was really good so I kept going! My mom was always a really hard worker and she always seemed to make things happen even when they seemed impossible. Her work ethic and positivity has helped push me to keep painting and when sales are down, not to give up hope. Without her, I would not have been able to overcome many of the challenges in an art career. I am recently married to a wonderful man who has also been super supportive and comes to all the art festivals with me and helps me set up and take down the booth, helped me build an awesome new art studio in our backyard, and is always there to encourage me whenever I feel like giving up. I also give all the credit to Christ, who gave me the skills needed to create art in the first place and who leads me to new opportunities daily.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.elizabethdrydenart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethdrydenfineart/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edrydenpaintings/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-dryden-3707b113/
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