Elbaridi Art and Design

Portraits of animals imagined as famous dignitaries, paintings, historical figures and fictional characters.

This is an ongoing series of works. I am very fond of puns and started each painting with a fully fleshed out name, choice animal and it's context.

Painted in acrylic and oil. All frame sides are gilded in gold leaf and sealed.

Original paintings and fine art prints available to order.

This series of works came about after I explored different materials and textures. I was intrigued by some hand-made collage paper I had sitting around in the studio and started playing with its placement, building on it further. I started seeing faces, and as the grouping gained flesh, I decide to call it the Magellan's Crew after the great Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan. I saw geographical features, hints of maps and wanted to honor the people that have made his travels possible.

Mixed-media collages on paper, mounted on board and sealed in resin. 

All paintings have 2" matte black floating frames.

The series was created as a means to explore shifting family dynamics, relationships and identity issues. I was first intrigued by some DIY hand-made collage paper I had been creating and collecting for many years, without any idea how I could possibly use it. 

Once it was glued to the background, it became the foundation for color and figure placement. It was a very intuitive, organic process that helped crystalize the raw emotion I wanted to express in a visual context. 

I was inspired by cave art, Jean Dubuffet and children's drawings.

What came of it was a ragtag group of characters that represent our most basic impulses, needs and shortcomings, unbound by social expectations but firmly existing in our id.

Mixed-media collage on paper. Each one is mounted with a 2" white mat. 

Here are a few examples of of Byzantine style Orthodox icons.

I was taught the traditional method of painting on wood panels by applying hand made gesso, laying down the gold leaf with rabbit glue size, red bolus paint and clear natural shellac. The actual hand-painting is done with a mix of egg yolk and pigment, known as egg tempera.

This process is laborious but it preserves the sacred art of iconography as it has been created for hundreds of years. My intention is to always honor the past, yet create new imagery with an artistic sensibility that is my own.