Elisa Boughner

Feature by Katherine Herschler and Tracy McQueen

A couple of months back, we were invited to attend a gallery opening with our publisher. It was a local gallery which we had previously missed when we had driven past at various times, not realizing there was a beautiful art studio behind a complex of office buildings. As soon as we walked in, Elisa detached herself from a group that had surrounded her, and greeted us. She was serene, beautiful and very friendly.  We met her family, her husband and her daughter. They had tables set up with refreshments, and rooms that led into other rooms full of her colorful artwork. We chatted for a while and then we walked around to get a feel for her work.

We spent a few hours examining her paintings, her work studio and her fine jewelry. It was a great evening. They also had a room set up for visitors to take pictures against the backdrop of one of Elisa’s paintings.

The hallway had some works reminiscent of Van Gogh, his circular patterns and bold colors, but with Elisa’s own interpretation.  Then we walked around her gallery and the effect was cheerful and happy. Because of the color, it had a light-filled feeling. We noticed a painting with a unique frame and questioned Elisa about it. She told us about the other projects she had done including mosaic work and interior design artwork. We also got to see her 9/11 portfolio that was very modern and abstract. It was a suite of paintings on paper— powerful , the lines and strokes suggesting emotional turmoil and pain.

We visited her backroom where hundreds of her paintings were stored. We also got a chance to see some of her materials, paints and brushes, etc.

We are going to share some of her work with you here and hope you enjoy your visit to Elisa’s virtual gallery! Be sure to read about her life and art along the way, and enjoy her wonderful interview at the end.

 Elisa has been creating art since early childhood.  Born in Evanston, Illinois.  Elisa spent her formative years growing up in Mexico City, Mexico.  For eight years she was immersed in Mexican culture.  She developed a strong sense of color and style from these years.  While living in Mexico, Elisa was enrolled in formal arts training when she was 8. She created work that her parents thought good enough to frame and hang in the family living room. This gave her a great sense of pride, which made a big impact on such a young artist. Her family moved to Glenview, Illinois when she was 12, and where she still resides today.

Elisa graduated from the award winning art program at Northern Illinois University receiving a BFA in Printmaking as well as an MFA in Painting and Drawing.  During her undergraduate pursuits, Elisa went abroad for a year to study the Masters of Europe.  During that year she traveled extensively throughout Austria, Italy, Germany, Sweden, England, Ireland and Czechoslovakia. Her work reflects the influence of each of these cultures, and of a range of painting styles from the Impressionists, through the German Expressionists, and finally the Cubists. The result is a unique and highly personal style that brings extraordinary vibrance to often-ordinary subjects.

Elisa uses the bright colors characteristic of Mexican painting, but employs them in the viscerally communicative fashion of the Expressionists. Her palette is often innovative, sometimes subversive, achieving striking complements and juxtapositions. Her intuitive, almost tactile use of color and form speaks a highly personal artistic language, one that communicates directly and eloquently with the viewer. Critics have found her work to be “…compelling…” as well as “…thought provoking and intelligent…”.  It has been said of her works that they contain the “…stylizing of Masters such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Cezanne…”.  Elisa has her own studio in Glenview, Illinois and her work can be viewed online at www.boughnerart.com.

When she was 23, she married her long time high school sweetheart Martin R. Boughner. Together they have a daughter and three sons. Being an artist himself, Martin and Elisa opened Artifex Studio in 2000. Ever since then they have worked together to get Elisa’s work seen by as many people as possible. Their hope is that once you have seen her work it will stay with you and make you smile.

The studio also sells notecards from prints of her Elisa’s various art pieces, with poems written by her husband. In his poem “Lend Me a Moment,” he begins with the scenario “We stumble, falter, and then fall on our way to knowledge/The road is wrought with many switchbacks and dead ends…” and goes on to acknowledge the importance of teachers. Here are a couple of his poems.

Please click to read the interview with Elisa Boughner

Pirene’s Fountain thanks Elisa Boughner for sharing all materials relating to this feature and all the artwork so generously shared throughout this issue.