Elizabeth Sumner

About the Artist

Elizabeth Schwarz Sumner was born and raised in Washington, DC. The youngest of seven children, art was a constant in her home. Her father was a WPA artist and landscape painter and was Elizabeth’s first art instructor. She grew up seeing her father working on oil and watercolor paintings and learned to observe objects and see color through his eyes. This intimate training and guidance are still major influences on her work today. Elizabeth has been drawing and creating for as long as she can remember, her drawing talent recognized early on in both elementary and high school where she received multiple art awards. Her love of art led her to Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, New York where she majored in drawing and minored in illustration. Interrupted for a semester by attending Ohio State University in Columbus, she worked as an assistant to a medical illustrator at the Ohio State University Hospital and was a full-time fine arts student. She returned to New York for a short time, but then returned to the Washington area. Elizabeth continued working in the visual arts field and completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland, majoring in fine arts and minoring in art history. She went on to earn her Maryland State Teaching Certification, then her Master’s in art education with an emphasis on studio work from Towson University. She taught visual arts at both the secondary and college level. Working in her Columbia studio, Elizabeth is currently focused on painting and creating; showing and selling her art. Her contemporary landscapes reflect upon her father’s early influence and her trees show a direct inspiration from many years of figurative drawing. These compositions are formed hiking around the country and walking through many small towns and large cities. Not all of her works are landscapes but all of her works relate to the environment and its relationship to human feelings, thoughts and interactions.

Artist's Statement

I look toward the positive in my life and our world with the dramatic changes we are seeing in our weather and environmental conditions. Similar to the human condition and life as it is, our environmental conditions are changing and it can sometimes be overwhelming and even devastating. Some of my most recent paintings are about finding the peace and the beauty in daily life and celebrating it. Each piece uses a combination of watercolor and ink, perhaps colored pencil, pastels or a blending of acrylic paints or all of the aforementioned. While I love the detail I can get with pencils and pastels, both the quick marks of the brush loaded with acrylic paint and the free flow of inks and watercolor on paper allow me to express myself in color and light, enabling me to visually voice my passion for freedom, for life and for our precious world.