ELEANOR EICK
MY STORY
I have loved painting with watercolors ever since I began taking a variety of classes in NYC Art Schools. I was fortunate to have lived near the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. It was the first place I experienced plein air painting, the art of working outdoors, embracing the open air.
Painting outdoors offers a great opportunity to breath fresh air, explore, examine, listen and observe nature. It shows me pathways and flowing elements with soft and heart throbbing rhythms. I often get an intuitive feeling to stop and paint whatever is in front of me at that moment.
Sometimes, I continue working on a painting from a memory of the moment, creating a hybrid between here and there and then and now. My work has also expanded to include mixed media works using a variety of materials.
I grew up in beautiful Maplewood, New Jersey before moving to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design in 1969. I taught design and drawing at art and architecture schools. I also worked in the interior design and marketing industry. Starting in 1990, I was a free lance display designer, creating enhanced environments at retail stores, wholesale showrooms and trade shows.
Currently, my wife and I have been living in Hunterdon County since 2006. The Prallsville Mill was the inspiration for my first painting in our new home. I joined with my new art community starting with the Hunterdon Watercolor Society, The Musconetcong Watercolor Group and also have taken many classes at the Center for Contemporary Art in Bedminster, NJ. I learned traditional techniques and have been influenced by Gail Bracegirdle and Doris Ettlinger. At the CCA, Wes Sherman and Terri Fraser have directed me towards experimenting with a more contemporary appreciation. In the future, I feel committed to my future in the arts.