Eyes wide open looking for the truth, no sugarcoating, heads thrown back in passionate gestures. Vulnerable nakedness.

Long-fingered hands. Sensitivity drawn with fine nervous lines. Tense bodies, black ink on white paper, they look as if moved by raw emotions. Relaxed bodies, dreamlike shapes in violet, the color of spirituality.

I can feel the youthful artist behind those portraits, and I think her models are as brave as she is. I imagine that she has to let the things she lives and experiences flow into her work.

There is darkness in Elizabeth’s drawings but there is light, too - and hope for a passionate future.

The art and words of Elizabeth Witcher...

Fingerprint

How long have you been an artist?

I have been an artist in training for as long as I can remember. I believe now, in this time of my life, I am comfortable in referring to myself as an artist. It feels right.

Ghostly girl

Grain

Is your art your full-time career?

Am I making 100% of my income from my art? No. However creating art is a very big part of my lifestyle. It is always on my mind and it is how I want to make my living. I believe that is what a career is - something you want to spend 10,000 hours+ doing.

Catch dreams

Do you have favorite places you like to create?

I create wherever I am comfortable. I have created a studio for myself and I try to make it the perfect environment for myself. It is my favorite place to make my artwork.  I also enjoy drawing nature outside, and doing gesture drawings of strangers on the metro.

Essence

Shades

What materials do you prefer?

I love ink and watercolor. I also enjoy drawing with copic multi-liners to add details.

movement mistakes

Tired

Where/How are you inspired?

I am inspired by anything that makes my heart pound. It can be a book I’m reading, or a song I have listened to. It can be anything. And it can happen anywhere at any moment. If I get goose bumps, I have the urge to respond through my artwork.

Heads

Color stick

How do you know when your piece is done?

I know that a piece is done when there is absolutely nothing I want/can change. Some pieces never get completed.

Eye opening

Charcdark

Do you work on one or more pieces at a time?

It is hard for me to do that because when I work my entire mind is full of ideas for that particular piece. I can’t switch to a different mind. I only have one.

I have wings

If you were not an artist, what would you do?

I would be a writer. I would create worlds with my mind and share those worlds by using words. In fact, being a writer is something that I still would love to become.

Lift everything

How can our readers find and purchase your art?   

I am currently developing my online store and website. But the website domain name is elizabethwitcher.com

Finally free
 

Andrea Hupke de Palacio is the Arts Co-Editor for Wandering Educators. Born in 1957 in Giessen, Germany, Andrea began studying drawing and painting at an early age, encouraged by her family. She studied arts at one of the private Paris art schools, the Ecole Supérieur d’Art Françoise Conte and graduated as a textile Designer in 2005.  
 
For a short period, she discovered the Fashion and Interior Design World, with its précision, style and finesse which helped her to develop her love for the détail. Today she uses these skills to develop her painting. For her sketches and drawings, as well as her paintings she uses different media(s) on various materials, with liberty and intuition. Watercolor, Pencil, Gouache, Ink, Egg-Tempera, Acrylic on Paper, Canvas, or textiles.

Andrea’s paintings can be found in private collections througout Europe and she regularly organizes exhibitions and participate in art markets in Germany and France. She is also the co-founder of Atelier 325, together with Kim Rodeffer Funk, a Washington, DC-based artist.

All photos courtesy and copyright Elizabeth Witcher