User:Elainesalways

Elaine Denise Walton (born October 4, 1970) is an American painter, sculptor, and poet who currently lives in Calera, Alabama. She showed early interest in drawing and painting, and when she was nine years old she began formal art lessons with noted Alabama artist Jim Redfield, father of James Redfield, author of 'The Celestine Prophecy.'

She works with oil on canvas, assemblage, collage, sculpture, watercolor, and digital art to tell a visual story. Drawing upon the basic principles of constructivism, she considers herself a Neo-Constructivist.

EDUCATION
Elaine Walton grew up in the small town of Alabaster, Alabama and graduated from Thompson High School in Shelby County Alabama. After high school, she attended the University of Montevallo where she received The President's Award for Excellence in Writing for Outstanding Freshman Essay. She transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and then to the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.

After taking a eight-year haitus from school to raise her two daughters, Elaine Walton graduated magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a concentration in Painting. As an undergraduate, she worked as a Studio Assistant to Benito Huerta, curator of The Gallery at UTA. She was also elected Vice-President of the Student Art Association, and in 2002 was elected President.

NEO-CONSTRUCTIVISM
Walton aligned herself artistically with the Constructivist movement after seeing the work of Naum Gabo and reading his Manifesto. The Manifesto sought to provide artistic freedom by discarding the use of common materials and artistic devices such as line, color, volume, and mass in order to visually describe something. Gaubo believed that "art should accompany man through all parts of his life: 'at the workbench, at the office, at work, at rest, and at leisure; work days and holidays, at home and on the road, so that the flame of life does not go out in man.'"

Walton considers herself a Neo-Conctructivist because she constructs work based on her social, economical, romantic, and other experiences: She creates CONstructions based on DEstructions. Because she believes people are constantly learning, adapting, and changing to the evolving world around them, Walton strives to capture the intangible personal moments of her life experiences in finite constructions.

AWARDS AND HONORS
2002: First Place, Two-Dimensional Drawing; Second Place, Painting; Honorable Mention, Mixed Media; Honorable Mention, Digital Art; The University of Texas at Arlinton, E.X.C.E.L. Arts Festival; Arlington, Texas. 2001: Third Place, Etching; National Portfolio Review Printmaking Competition sponsored by The Amity Arts Foundation; Second Place, Sculpture; The University of Texas at Arlington’s Earth Day Art Competition.