Above: Elaine on location in the Blue Mounains, New South Wales, Australia
Previously published in the Charbonneau Villager
Elaine Swyt Featured in January through March 2020 Charbonneau Clubhouse Artist Gallery
“Reality through your own prism”
Ringing in 2020 in the featured artist gallery in the Charbonneau Country Clubhouse, will be the intuitive and artistic photography of long time resident, Elaine Swyt. A Charbonneau resident since 2005, she will be displaying her work during the months of January and February, presenting works from her landscape and nature collections, on metal and acrylic glass media.
Elaine likes to create photographs that draw you into the experience — to evoke that past memory, to anticipate as you too walk over that sand dune, to marvel in the miracle of a peony as it opens in the morning or is bathed in the twilight, to totally be absorbed by the colors of the seasons, or to simply want to experience unique moments of creation –“reality through your prism” — captured through the lens of her DSLR camera.
Although Elaine’s passion for photography spans decades, it is only in the last few years she has shared her art with us. As a volunteer with Charbonneau Arts for several years, she was first inspired, and as she says, “summoned the courage” to show her work at the annual art festival in 2015, where she received a red ribbon for “Chapel in the Mist.” She continued to participate in the Charbonneau Arts gallery show, honored with three “People’s Choice” ribbons — as she says, “to my total amazement.”
Elaine hopes to finally retire soon from her web & graphic design business, which she founded and has managed since the early ‘90’s. Although, she will continue for now, as editor of Charbonneaulive.com, and fulfill her board communication roles with the Charbonneau Women’s Association, Boys & Girls Aid Cypress Branch Auxiliary, and the Charbonneau Arts Association, she is gradually freeing up more time to dedicate to her photography.
This past year, for example, she was juried into “Basil & Art” in Canby and “Art in the Burbs,” a large annual art & gift show, benefitting the Tualatin schools. She has also been invited to show at the “Portland Home & Garden Show” during the spring or fall of 2020. Elaine is affiliated with the Clackamas Art Alliance, is currently a volunteer with the Three River Art Guild (TRAG) and exhibits her work at the Singer Hill Cafe gallery, all in Oregon City. This year, Elaine was named to Vice President on the Charbonnneau Arts Association board where she has been an active volunteer since 2014, serving also as the Co-chair for Communications, Chair of the festival Silent Auction, and manages the association website.
Photos Above Left: Elaine on Phillips Island 2019, Victoria, awaiting the evening “March of the Penquins”; Middle: Showing her work at “Art in the Burbs” in her booth 2019; and Right: at the Daintree in Queensland in 2019.
Elaine hopes you enjoy her gallery show and thanks the Charbonneau Country Club for the opportunity.
Her work can be viewed also on her online gallery where you can purchase from her portfolio. Go to www.illusion.gallery to find out more.