About the Artist

A Love Letter from Eliza

First, welcome! Thank you for taking the time to visit my page and taking the time to get to know a little more about me, my art and perspective. The paragraphs below contain insight into my history, both as an artist and a person, including what and why I create, details of my creative process, as well as motifs, themes and symbolism within my art that will hopefully help you better understand my point of view as an artist while enjoying my work. Jump through the looking glass and join me… if you dare.

Just kidding. It isn’t THAT ominous. I’m really all about living in harmony and spreading love, even if the following may sound a little dark…

I decided that it was fitting to open up my “Artist Story” with a quote from the literary classic, Alice in Wonderland seeing as my art is heavily influenced by the often-times contrasting themes found within the pages of the story that I frequently escaped into as a child. I felt that it was the perfect way to sum up both my personal history and my goal as an artist, in a neat little bow, while still leaving a little mystery to the story I am trying to tell. I want to tell the story of my journey from who I was to who I am, but let you experience it like Alice - in a way that drops you into another world for a little while, makes you think things are “curiouser and curiouser” in the world that we do live in, and then reframes your perception of reality when you come out on the other side. Kind of like an acid trip, but without the adverse side effects or health risks.

Eliza Marks - A Brief History

Before I tell you more about my art and process, I would like to tell you a tiny bit about myself and how Art by Eliza came to be (but let’s be real - I want to keep this mostly about the art). I am Eliza Marks, an eclectic, Dallas-born, now Hawaii-based concept artist following my dream (and what I think is likely to be my purpose here on Earth) of living in a rainforest on top of a volcano in Hawaii, with the goal of spreading a little magic, compassion, love and perspective throughout the world with my artistic, creative and spiritual endeavors.

From the time I got my first set of paints when I was 8 years old, I knew I loved to paint, and it was all I wanted to do.  Unfortunately, with a very busy and chaotic childhood, I had little time take solace in this medium, which gave me just about the only way to purge the emotions welling inside me, without tipping off those who were barely paying attention but would get angry if I dared to express anything other than gratitude for being alive. By the time I was in my early twenties, I had a lifetime of trauma simmering inside of me with nowhere for it to go, except for me to slap it on a canvas and keep on going about life. This time period (let’s call this my ‘purple period’ - when you see the gallery I think you will be able to identify it), is when I really started combining art and music as my primary coping mechanisms in a harsh reality. I had discovered a way to achieve emotional catharsis and purge the nasty feelings while simultaneously creating something pretty. As a result, I had discovered a way to make my trauma palatable for not just myself, but for anyone looking at it.  You see, when I look at my art, I see the dark depths of my story, laid bare for the world to evaluate, dissect and judge. The truth is that most people looked at it and saw a pretty painting (until I explained). This camouflage had given me a way to be secretly seen, while maintaining my happy-go-lucky, hardworking exterior expected by society, and keeping the demons at bay. At least for a while.

After spending the first ten years out of college working a series of soul-crushing jobs as a paralegal, I learned that nothing is more important than making people see you, your worth and not letting anyone waste your time or talents. After experiencing a lack of all of these things at several different law firms, while searching for a place that felt like a home I could tolerate until retirement, I no longer had the energy I wanted to put out into the world inside me, and I lost myself to the corporate machine. In 2023, I came to the somewhat painful realization that I could work as hard as I wanted for others, and they would never see or appreciate me the way I deserved. The even more painful realization was the fact that I was recreating my childhood dynamics in my adult life. And at that point, I realized I had to make a drastic change. So instead of pouring my energy into someone else’s purpose, I started along the path to reclaim what I felt I was destined to take since I was a small child - by creating enchantment full time and digging deeper into the meaning of life, especially the darkest parts and exposing them to the world in a manner that doesn’t make people look away from ugly truths.

As I began to plan my art career, I realized I had been laying the groundwork for years - since I had started creating for me, I now had a body of work, a head full of ideas and what feels like a lifetime of messages ready to share with others. I realized that those dreams of living in Hawaii and wanting to paint and make a difference and help other people in pain were not just dreams, but purpose. After years of work, planning, moving and logistics, all the pieces for Art by Eliza finally fell into place. This endeavor was launched on my 33rd birthday, also a golden birthday for me, as what I will now be claiming as my “Re-Birth Day” (I did this on purpose since it is both numerologically and astrologically significant!).

My Creative Process

Now that you have a brief understanding of the framework that I work within, I will tell you more about how it all comes together. To give you a quick synopsis of how I do what I do, without sounding entirely pretentious: it always starts with a strong feeling, emotion or experience that needs to be examined and excised from my psyche and ends with chaotic creation and emotional catharsis. Plain and simple, my art is my soul, spilled out onto a canvas, full of encoded messages.

Although I love to paint, I wouldn’t call what I do painting. I would describe my art as “weird collage”. I like to paint some elements, draw some elements, use colored pencil or marker, and use other craft mediums, like beads, yarn, glitter and so on, to create a layered experience (and keep things interesting). By not limiting myself to one medium, I feel like I keep myself from limiting my potential and allow for authentic self-expression within my work. In addition to unitizing traditional media in my art, I incorporate the use digitally machined images to further enhance my creations which allow me to create further by reimagining and refining my concepts through a digital lense. The mind works in a million different ways. Why would I limit myself to one style of art at a time when I can mix all the different “artistic flavors” together? I feel that this offers a different perspective by intertwining mediums and methods not typically used together and how a blending of mediums can truly lead to something unique and beautiful.

Oftentimes, I cannot find words to express the way I feel in an accurate and authentic way, which is where the music comes in. In my opinion, music is a very special form of art, because it requires a lot of skill to write and record a song and offers a wonderful opportunity to add depth to the meaning of an art piece. I view writing a song as the equivalent of writing a poem and putting it to a musical score, and I think that is badass - and sadly something I cannot do. But I do have the ability to listen to a song, find lyrics that resonate and translate it to an image that captures the feeling I want to express. This extra level of layering of meaning is how I leave the breadcrumbs to the hidden meanings in each painting. These hidden stories can be found in the lyrics of the songs, the color pallets, imagery, and design choices and represent both our feelings and personal interpretations of existing art that inspires us, by transforming into art as seen from our point of view.

Art in all of its forms (be that traditional art, music or the literary world) is my escape. Art is the place where I find those moments of peace that exist outside of time. So naturally while creating, I love to combine the various forms of art and get into a flow state by weaving together imagery, literature and song creating my own little world to retreat into that exists only on the canvas and inside my mind. Despite my sometimes-chaotic creative process, I strive to make my art simple, clean and graphic, while also being deeply thematic and developed. Every element, color choice, pattern or placement serves a specific purpose in the storytelling. I firmly believe that there is meaning hidden in everything, both in art and the world at large, and I apply that same belief to my creative process. Sometimes the messages I am sending are even hidden from myself until I reflect on them years later. It keeps things interesting, that is for sure!

Motifs, Themes and Inspiration

As I have been preparing to share my art, I have been struggling with how to properly describe my inspiration and thought process behind my artwork. I think the best way to sum it up is that I strive to create highly stylized and conceptualized, yet magically chaotic moments meant to transport you into a little world that only exists on canvas. I combine a mixture of terrestrial and ethereal motifs, such as florals and other organic elements paired with vivid colors and sparkling metallics, framed by the themes of love, manipulation, and duality, accompanied by hidden massages in the form of tiny breadcrumbs that inform both my creative process and world view. I believe that by combining these elements, I am able to create an escape from the real world and transport the viewer into a more interesting and beautiful place, even if that place only exists inside my mind and on the canvas.

I create these “little worlds” using a variety of techniques, mediums and graphic design elements in each piece, including the use of acrylic paints, markers, colored pencil and appliqué elements that create dimension and texture in my art, bringing it to life. As I’m sure you have heard (at least three times) by now, I am deeply inspired by the worlds that exists “beyond the looking glass” and as such, as an artist, I like to explore the otherworldly by drawing inspiration from things that are reality distorting. By combining well-known design features from artists like Andy Warhol (repetition and graphic design), Jackson Pollack (abstracts painting techniques), Margaret Keene (reality distortion in realism), Goergia O’Keefe (use of florals and nature) and Salvador Dahli (surrealism), all of which can be seen across my body of work, I aim to create art that makes the viewer do a double take to figure out what is going on. I think I am usually pretty successful at distorting reality, but you tell me. Seriously though, constructive feedback is appreciated!

Music and the poetry of its lyrics oftentimes provide the framework for the universe I am creating within.  The themes expressed within my art are derived from personal experiences and often found in music as well. I mean not a lot of mainstream music, but the fun alternative stuff.  As such, music is a central theme in both my creative process and as the coalescing force behind my art - pretty much all of it is based on a song.  I believe that feelings are oftentimes better expressed and heard through music with its carefully crafted lyrics and chords than being experienced in a visual form alone, especially when you are expressing your feelings in secret. This is why I have the song and the image linked together, but the image is always going to be somewhat “dissociated” from the meaning of the song that inspired it, paralleled by expressing pain through beauty, another central theme within my art. That being said, I find that my art sends a more powerful message when experienced in tandem with its counterpart song. By engaging two senses (visual and auditory stimulation) I am able to show you one thing, and make you feel another, which allows you to experience the dualistic nature of my art. As such, I recommend viewing my art with its accompanying song playing alongside for the optimal experience of my art. Don’t worry, all that information is in the Gallery, along with links to the song for your viewing/listening pleasure. 

Final Thoughts

For those who have experienced the same or similar things as me, I think you will find that you can easily “secretly see” the messages that I am attempting to convey with each piece of art that I create.  My art tells the story of my personal experiences, by weaving together the poetry found within song lyrics, emotions that well up from powerful instrumentals and meaningful imagery meant to share the experiences that have shaped me and changed my world view, be that for better or for worse. Although these tough experiences have taken their toll on me, for sure, I think that I learned a lesson through each of them, which has empowered me to see the humanity in people and evolve into a more compassionate and understanding person, which is something I hope is seen in the art that I create. Through my personal creative lenses, I strive to find the silver linings, moments of beauty in some not-so-pretty experiences and have learned to continually grow, even in the darkest of places. 

Like most people walking the earth today I am not the same person I was when I naively entered my twenties. Growing up in a world that seems to become less and less caring and hospitable, I do not think that any of us, except for a very lucky few who haven’t experienced a serious trauma, are the people we were truly meant to be. I think that the world takes and takes from many people to the point where they lose hope, which can lead anyone down a dark path.  It is in these dark, scary places where I found my voice as an artist, and a person.  Art by Eliza is my way of finding my way back to the path that I know deep down my life was supposed to take and reclaim my power, while hopefully inspiring a few other people along the way.  I decided that I would try my best to be that guiding light for those stumbling around in the dark places that no one cares to look in, who need someone to say “I see you. I am here and I feel your pain. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel”. This is something that I hope you find with Art by Eliza, and it brings you as much understanding and peace as this project has provided to me. Just like Alice when she fell into another world, it is entirely up to you if you will find darkness or light in the artwork. I can assure you; both exist. I encourage you to reclaim your power and be that light in the dark, not just for yourself, but for everyone you encounter.

I sincerely hope that you find something that resonates with your soul and brings you a sense of joy and peace.

P.S. My Services

I want to be able to share my art and perspective with as many people as it speaks to and understand that not everyone can afford original artwork. As such, I have taken extra efforts to digitize my work in an effort to have art at every price point, by offering a variety of print on demand products, featuring my original artwork, or digital adaptions of elements from my traditional pieces.

My services and products include the sale of my original artworks, in addition to print-on-demand products such as printed canvases, poster prints, stickers and other unique products to allow you to enjoy my art at any price point. Since we do utilize print on demand services to manufacture our non-handmade products (i.e. products besides handmade items and original artwork), if there are any specific products that you would like to see, shoot us a message and we can see what we can do! In addition, commissions are available upon request, agreement and approval. If you would like to discuss commissioning a custom Art by Eliza Artwork, please contact me via our contact link for more details regarding requested specifications, size, price and timing.

P.P.S. - Want to learn more about Art by Eliza?

While on this long journey of healing and self-acceptance, I recently realized that I have spent a lifetime trying to find real unconditional love, which has informed my perspective as an artist. And now that I have finally located it, I want to share my path and process of finding my way with you, as told through my art. I think I have given a pretty decent overview, but if you would like more information about my background, how Art by Eliza came to be and evaluation of my themes and motifs at a more in-depth level than what is in the paragraphs above,  please click over to our Artist Blog, aptly called “Malice in Wonderland” for a deeper, slightly darker dive into my artistic themes, personal history and spiritual pursuits.  I will note before you hop over there that there is a $3.00 paywall around my blog, to allow exclusive content to my community as well as to share my inner thoughts with the people who care - not the people who are here to troll. Your membership also includes free downloadable items that will otherwise be available for purchase in our shop, just to sweeten the pot a little.