Elijah (30″x40″ mixed media on linen) was one of many paintings exhibited at The Highland Galerie in Columbus, Georgia this spring. Immersing in creating this painting was a very mystical experience for me (please see the Judaica page here on this website to read about it).
This recent painting explores the notion that while alive on earth, everything and everyone is infused with light and an essence of love. Earthbound, yet of pure love (heaven). Actually, this not just a concept or a notion, but rather something we can sense and generate, expand upon. To choose to see love more than to see angst, for example, and to celebrate the glow of light in everyone and in ourselves is to be as if in a garden of bliss that we tend to ourselves. Recently this painting was at The Highland Galerie in Columbus, Georgia and one viewer said the area of red clay (mid right side) reminded her of the moment just before God created Adam out of clay (humans being of the earth with all its conditions but created in a divine image of the Creator).
Between Heaven and Earth 36″x40″ mixed media on linen
I was meditating on family themes that are passed down through generations. I started painting not knowing where it would take me and realized my aunt (or what she may have looked like as a child) appeared. I felt that the emotional energy of the concept I was dwelling on so intensely had come through and perhaps the ancestors heard me.
A few months ago I was contacted by House & Garden UK and they asked if I’d like to be in The Art Edit. Of course I said yes! This is the August 2025 Issue. My art and text is #10.
“Elaine Clayton, a New York City based artist and author has returned to her Southern roots, where she brings what is outside inside with her lyrical and harmonious paintings. Inspired by the sunlit flora of the Deep South, she captures that unique essence of wonderment and charm for interior spaces.”
The South is full of light and floral beauty, it inspires and lulls me into day dreams. There is harmony in nature, even with the chaotic wildness and I find myself painting the feelings I get when out in my courtyard, meandering around to see what new buds have appeared over night. This piece exhibited in the Funding Future Artists exhibit recently and is now with a private collector.
A new portrait was unveiled, that of an adorable English White Labrador. He is a lake dweller so I knew I had to paint him in his domain.
And before painting the adorable white lab, I painted this Australian Shepherd and shipped him to his home in D.C. area. I just loved creating both of these paintings.
The Hebrew Letter Shin has captivated me for over a decade. Each of the aleph-bet, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet hold personality and energy, and carry specific symbolic meanings. Shin can be seen in nature, a like three limbs branching out, or like a campfire, with three flames dancing. Above Shin and below, Shin Garden. One painting lives with collectors in CT, the other in VA.
