Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Eldridge.
Alexandra, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I had the good fortune of being one of 7 children born to two exceptional artists and writers. My mother and father wrote and illustrated 27 children’s books and created a nationally syndicated comic strip based on our family life. I set my easel up next to my mother’s very early on. The large Victorian house was filled with art and their studios that we were always welcomed into.
I met and married my art professor at Ohio University. We started an arts community based on the ideas and inspiration of Wm. Blake, the English Visionary painter and poet. Here we raised sheep, cultivated organic gardens and made art. The Scriptorium was created to print and bind our own books.
I left that life and moved to Santa Fe. This has been my homebase but travel and art opportunities have led me to live in Paris, where I painted an enormous mural in the Place des Vosges and New York with numerous year long studio stays in Chelsea.
Art residencies in Spain and Italy, pilgrimages to see Black Madonnas in Central France, exhibitions and travel in Slovenia, Serbia, Paris and London have all contributed to enriching my imagination as an artist.
Besides painting daily for my various galleries, I am also collaborating with a poetry professor on a Tarot deck, The Radiant Tarot, to be used for prompting creativity. Two other books, using my paintings are also in the making.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The journey of an artist is never smooth. By the very nature of creativity, one must be challenged all along the way to be one’s best. Expect to live on the edge and without security. One month many paintings may sell, the next month the stars may not align.
While I was single parenting my children, I did faux finish work, painted murals and other art related work. All the while, I would do my own painting at night to keep my soul fed. Expect to work hard and most of all nurture a vision that you can believe in and call your own. It is all worth it to know that you might have shared some beauty and a bit of your soul.
We’d love to hear more about Alexandra Eldridge’s Art.
My paintng is about self-revelation. I have worked with many different mediums, venetian plaster being a constant and on many surfaces. Old Chinese scrolls held my first photo based work. I am presently scanning vintage glass negatives from the turn of the century, printing them life size and reimagining them through painting. Humans easily morph into animals. These animals offer their wings, become outsized, and share their attributes.
The finished painting is mounted on large wood panels.
I value that my work continues to grow and change. Sometimes, that means that you will have to find new collectors and a new audience. Seeing anew is essential!
We’re interested to hear your thoughts on female leadership – in particular, what do you feel are the biggest barriers or obstacles?
No matter how we would like to think otherwise, we still live in a patriarchal society. Perhaps a bit better than when all those wonderful surrealist women painters were being ignored and only now are getting their due.
Keep putting yourself out there and your work will speak for you. Look to the women artists who have had success, like Kiki Smith, Louise Bourgeois. Both have come from a feminine perspective and cannot be denied!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alexandraeldridge.com
- Phone: 505-690-9259
- Email: ae8848@gmail.com
- Instagram: alexandraeldridge8
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandra.eldridge
- Twitter: https://twitter.comAEldridgeArt
Image Credit:
Jennifer Esperanza
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