Delphi

Newest work, Delphi, is now finished. Inspired by the Oracle Of Delphi.

Delphi, Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 in, 2014

~ Elise Mesnard

Ampelos

The moment between the inhale and exhale amongst a forested scene where a faun gently rests, either before or after an act, embodying a male sensuality and virility of youth. I find myself lying beside it in the studio, reflecting the pose, after a long painting session that has exhausted me. The troubles of the world outside the reposed faun seem distant and muted.

Ampelos by Elise Mesnard
 Oil on Canvas, 30 x 40 in
© Elise Mesnard, 2013

"Bacchanalia" Artist's Reception

This past weekend I traveled up to visit a collector and chat with visitors about my recently completed painting "Bacchanalia" it was a lovely evening with much merriment.

Bacchanalia, Oil on Canvas, 38.5 x 50.5 in.
© Elise Mesnard 2013

Painting up a storm!

Posting after a very long break from updates on here (apologies). I am now in Portland Oregon and have almost finished setting up my studio, but in the mean-time that hasn't stopped me from getting paint everywhere! Here's a shot after a particularly long session on a new piece i'm working on. Cheers!

Elise Mesnard

Work to be sent to show in Hong Kong!

I've just been informed that 8 of my paintings have been purchased and will be in a painting show in Hong Kong! I'm so very excited and grateful, and cannot wait to find out more about when the show will take place.
Here are the paintings that they purchased...

"Coyote & Crow", 2012, 60" x 60", Oil on Canvas

"Male Reborn" & "Female Reborn", 2011, 36" x 24" Oil on Panel

 "Cicada" & "NYC", 2011, QR Code Audio Panels

"Male" & "Female", 2011, 36" x 24" Oil on Panel

Coyote & Crow

"Coyote and Crow" Diptych, Each 60" x 60", Oil on Canvas

Here's the finished Coyote and Crow painting I've been working on!

"Coyote" 60 x 60", Oil on Canvas, by Elise Mesnard

"Crow" 60 x 60", Oil on Canvas, by Elise Mesnard

Check out the preliminary stages here:
http://elisemesnard.blogspot.com/2012/05/coyote-and-crow-diptych-on-trickster.html

A Study in Abstraction & Dante's Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso) by Elise Mesnard

Inferno,  30x 40"
Acrylic, Twine, and Plaster on Canvas

Purgatorio,  30x 40"
Acrylic, Twine, and Plaster on Canvas

Paradiso,  30x 40"
Acrylic, Twine, and Plaster on Canvas

Fantastically invigorating project, I hope to create more like them in the future. Inspired by Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedies (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso).

Cheers,

 Elise Mesnard

The Alchemical Base (Tria Prima)

According to Paracelsus, the Three Primes (Tria Prima) are: 
-Salt (base matter) 
-Sulfur (omnipresent spirit of life) & 
-Mercury (fluid connection between the High and the Low)

Salt, Sulphur, & Mercury
Oil on Canvas
Each Panel 60" x 24"

I absolutely loved this series, and plan to do more in the future.




Till then, 
~Elise Mesnard

Coyote and Crow, a Diptych

My newest series Coyote and Crow creates a diptych with larger than life figures, inspired by Native American shamans embodying the god or spirit they wished to invoke. Coyote and Crow were both trickster spirits who brought misfortune to the humans through their play but also acted as a balancing act in relation to the other gods. As Coyote and Crow are both very cunning they naturally fought quite a bit against one another. In the diptych, I show the heated gaze between the two and have placed them in an otherworldly atmosphere in which the shaman would enter to cross the bridge between the unseen divine in nature and the physical mundanity of our existence.

The completed images shown here are preparatory drawings for the Coyote and Crow paintings, I feel that drawing them out and fully working on the problems within placement, composition and rendering- helps me better carry out the final painting (which is on two 5' x 5' canvases, as opposed to the drawings, which were only 4' x 4')

Crow (Left) and Coyote (Right)
 Conte and Charcoal with Gesso on Panel, 48" x 48" each

"Crow" Underpainting

Starting the "Coyote" underpainting

"Coyote" figure portion of the underpainting almost complete!

Getting to work on the paintings, wish me well!

xox Elise Mesnard

Alchemy Series

Started working on my new series on the pseudo-science of alchemy in its old-world medicinal setting. Originally inspired by the Plague Doctor, for each painting I have an herb associated with the old practices of medicine or with alchemy or witchcraft in general. Left is Mugwort, center is Belladonna, and right is Datura. Then I have the three base component alchemical symbols, Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury. And at the bottom I have a representational object- A mortar and pestle, an animal's skull, and a rounded glass vial. 

Working on Belladonna