It’s Been 3 Years
It’s been three years since Elizabeth’s stroke. Here is an article from back then about the art show at the Press Room. Thanks to all who have supported her over the years.
Below is the press release:
March 18, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Hilary A. Niles, h@nilesmedia.net, 603.332.9029
Painter Elizabeth Stewart
Art Sale to Benefit Injured Painter
For one afternoon only, a special exhibit and sale of paintings by Elizabeth Stewart will be held on Saturday, April 3. All proceeds will benefit the painter, who suffered a major stroke in January just six days after giving birth to a healthy baby girl.
The exhibit and sale will be held on the upper floor of The Press Room on Daniel Street in Portsmouth. The location is significant: Elizabeth and the baby’s father, Steve Carrigan, met at the venue’s longstanding Irish music session in 2008. They were married last year.
“I’m incredibly grateful that she’s alive,” Carrigan says. Elizabeth could muster almost no movement on the right side of her body after the stroke, and now Carrigan is seeing her recover a little bit at a time. Her smile, for example, is coming back, he says. She no longer drags her foot when she walks.
Elizabeth tires easily and doubts that she’ll be able to attend the benefit, but her husband Steve will be there on her behalf, perhaps with the couple’s baby Saoirse. Pronounced “SEER-sha,” her name is Gaelic for “Freedom.” Elizabeth’s other children, Gabe, Noah and Forrest, may attend, as well.
Elizabeth, a self-taught painter, has developed a unique style of portraiture that incorporates Celtic patterns and design concepts. Best known for her series of pet portraits, Stewart’s work resonates with a chord of deep connection to nature. She paints on both canvas and clayboard and her work is often self-framed, meaning that she paints a visual frame-sometimes quite intricate-around the image.
“In a way,” says Carrigan, “this show will be a retrospective of her work before the stroke.” She recently started some simple line drawings and they both agree that her style will no doubt change as she continues to regain fine motor skills. She is now working hard with speech therapists to regain her command of language.
“It’s one line but it covers the whole page,” Elizabeth slowly describes her new work. She says that it’s symbolic of the aphasia-an inability to process language-she’s dealing with now. “All I can keep track of is one line, and some of the pieces really speak to how I was feeling,” she explains. For example, she drew one line with “teeth” because she felt like someone was chewing on her words. “It was a way I could express myself without having to talk to anybody. It feels good,” she says. She plans to send some of these new line drawings to the show, as well.
Original paintings in a full range of sizes will be exhibited. Giclee prints and her own line of greeting cards will also be available. “There will be something for everyone there,” says Elizabeth’s brother-in-law Jim Carrigan, who is coordinating the benefit efforts. His intention is to offer enough of a range to match anyone’s price point, so that no one is left without the opportunity to help the family.
He also intends to streamline the purchasing process to make it easy for buyers. He will collect contact information from those who wish to purchase paintings, and will deliver them personally after the show for no charge. Payments in cash or check can be made at the show, or a bill can be requested. The show is not an auction. Items will have a set price from $3 (for cards) to $40-$60 (giclees) to several hundred dollars for original paintings.
Elizabeth’s work has been featured in shows from Newburyport to Concord to Kennebunkport, including juried exhibitions at 100 Market Street, the Robert Lincoln Levy Gallery and Heartwood College of Art. Her pet portraits were featured in a very successful solo exhibit at the Elysium Arts Folk Club last year, and Elizabeth’s work has won many awards, including “Most Original” at the Maine Women in the Arts Fine Art Competition in 2006. Elizabeth has donated many paintings to the NHSPCA’s fall auction (her love of animals in action), including a special portrait of a much-loved homeless dog named “Shadow” last fall.
The April 3 benefit sale at the Press Room will be graced by the live jazz music of Larry Garland and Friends, who will perform for their standing Saturday lunch gig downstairs starting at 1:00 p.m. (no cover). The family is grateful to The Press Room and manager Bruce Pingree for making the upper room available for the benefit.