We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eloise Shelton-Mayo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eloise below.
Eloise, we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?
I’ve had generous teachers and a mom, Inga, whose sense of service in her community, church and to those in need, was a driving force in her life. She was also a loving mother and friend who loved to laugh. My mom as also highly creative. Inga loved to watch me paint and was fascinated to see what I was working on. She died last year but her generous spirit stays with me.
When it comes to teaching, I’ve rarely had teachers who kept knowledge to themselves. My goal is to guide and teach what I know so that students can gain skill and creative confidence. I encourage them to keep at it in their art and take risks while having plenty of fun along the way. Generosity in life and teaching is vital to my happiness.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
As a child, I traveled a lot as an Air Force kid. I think this exposure to all kinds of people and places made for some excitement for shy me. We lived briefly in the ugliest pink house in an unattractive neighborhood in South Carolina upon moving from Germany. I spent a lot of time in my room drawing, writing stories and listening to music, unaware of becoming the artist I recognize today.
I’m primarily a painter and mixed media artist who steps out into printmaking occasionally. My first love was writing and I went to UNCW for a BFA in English. After an earlier career as an Ad Designer, I began pursuing art classes. I was always an artist but it took me awhile to know that. This culminated in me teaching at TCC’s Visual Art Center, as well as teaching numerous art workshops and showing at various exhibits and galleries. Along with teaching, I’m driven to continue pushing my own work in new ways and taking risks. I’m captivated by the beauty in decay.
For over ten years, I’ve captured images of a 1900s home being overtaken by brambles and vines as it wears down. It’s been intriguing to see how the structural remains continue their transition to the earth.
My paintings attempt to give that sense of history I see in old architecture, walls, rusty things and most of all, I want to capture a sense of mystery & intrigue different but related to what I see in nature and decay.
I’ve recently finished a botanical print series for a local print group I’m a part of: the Chesapeake Bay Print Collective.
My goals include getting a larger studio where I can also teach, and work on a series of larger paintings. My husband and I plan to travel in 2026/27 to Maine and to Europe. Travel of any kind invigorates my art practice, so I’m keen to see where that takes me.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Persistence is vital as one begins to study art and learn art skills. As Ira Glass said in his famous treatise on creativity, you have to make a lot of bad art to get to the good stuff. Truth is it won’t all be bad at all, and those successes will spur you on. The point is practice x 100.
Discover your passion. Along the way you’ll discover what you’re most passionate about, and for me it was painting. But learning how to draw, to use other mediums including computer and photography were important in cultivating my eye and my skill set.
If possible, either at a college, community art center or even having days with art friends to make things. Surround yourself with creative, like-minded people. All of this will build creativity confidence along the way. Only note your personal improvements in your skill and art, and strive as best you can to not compare yourself to others.
These three are the ways in which the art journey has kept me engaged. I want to always grow, learn and refresh my art practice.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My teachers have been invaluable. One teacher in particular who has been a wonderful mentor, boss and now friend is Corinne Lilyard-Mitchell. I had her for design and later for all the painting classes at Tidewater Community College’s Visual Arts Center. Corinne’s excellent teaching of color and painting from life convinced me that I could paint and I fell deeply in love with painting. At that time, I told my husband Joe that I felt like a kid at Christmas morning. Each new discovery and success more exciting than the last.
Contact Info:
- Website: eloisesheltonmayo.com
- Instagram: Eloise Paints
- Facebook: Eloise Paints Art Workshops & Discussion
