Paula Elion - Welcome! My art is personal. When I share it with others I hope it can inspire and make people think about issues that are part of everybody's lives. I want the viewer to feel challenged by the images that appear on the canvas; challenged to reflect and connect it with their own experiences and feelings. I sometimes draw my inspiration from photographs of my own childhood and family. I'm convinced that is the place where everything starts and ends. We, as adults, are the result of those looks, postures, events, family gatherings, birthday parties that mark us forever. In order to visualize my ideas I use elements like cloth, canvas, cardboard, oil colors, acrylic, charcoal, etc. Red is usually present as it conveys a rich spectrum of associations. The brush strokes may look either spontaneous or meticulously done. I need to feel constantly challenged by the medium I am using. Otherwise, some of the excitement of the process will be lost. Mother-daughter relationship is a topic that inspires much of my work. In some of my paintings, I explore this through the story of Little Red Riding Hood. It presents a girl that is supposed to get through the forest without being hurt by the big bad wolf. Being hurt in what sense? What are the intentions of this scary male figure? A lot has been written about this apparently innocent story. It presents a bunch of characters we may be charmed by: a "loving" mother that sends her child to face the dangers of the forest all by herself, a helpless little girl, a dangerous wolf, a grandmother that cannot help her granddaughter, etc. In my view it is quite significant that the mother is the one that puts her daughter at risk by sending her to the forest – straight into the claws of the wolf. You are welcome to explore my artwork and paintings in the Galleries section. I would be glad to get any feedback regarding my art. Please use the Contact page to do that.