I was born on the island of Manhattan, New York City and learned early about the peoples of our planet. New York is a melting pot with so much diversity. People, cultures, music, art and architecture. I started my art path when I was 8 years old, I began taking art classes at age 13 won my a first place award in a New York City street festival for the oil painting called “Red Barn in the Snow” you can see a picture of this below in my bio 1968. At 16 I sold my first oil painting to a New York City art dealer and at 18 began to take art classes at Pratt Institute Saturday Morning classes. When I was 18, I applied to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and was accepted and majored in Fine Arts.It was in 1966 that I first got a glimpse of what the green jungle was all about. A short trip to the west coast of Puerto Rico, to a town called Rincon where all the surfers lived. Here they flocked like seals out on the sea, waiting to catch and ride the big waves. They lived in tree houses on the beach. That experience showed me and opened me up to a simple way of life, close to nature.Finally in 1968 I left Pratt Institute for a year sabbatical. I was studying Fine Art at school and moved to the island of St. Thomas, VI. When we arrived, it was in the beginning of a 7 day tropical storm. It was then that I understood the power, beauty, grandeur and strength of mother nature. From that point on I knew I had found my place on the planet. My calling began to grow becoming stronger and stronger. I definitely knew I had to live in a tropical environment. The light, the colors, the smells of the earth, the sky and clouds, the birds and tropical fruits all free my soul. Here I thrive like the jungle plants after a good rain. This beauty is what inspires me to paint with the colors and blends that I do whether it is with watercolors on paper, or oil on canvas. Living in the tropics, allows my spirit to speak freely through pen and brush.After St Thomas, I traveled and created paintings of these places. St. Johns, St. Croix, Antiqua, Puerto Rico, Key West, Mexico all of Central America, Columbia, Kauai, Eleuthera, Nassau, Paradise Island, St. Marten, Tortola, Jamaica, Maui, St. Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Anguilla, Barbados, Trinidad, Tobago, Guadalupe, Taveuni-Fiji, Bega-Fiji Oahu, England, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Amsterdam, Germany, Italy, France, Sicily, Corfu, Hawaii, Montenegro, Dubrovnik, Bora Bora, Moorea, Tahiti, Raiatea, Rangiora, and Nuku Hiva, Singapore and Bali all inspired and continue to inspire ideas for new works. The Truth and Beauty of these places is overwhelming and feeds Eileen’s artistic soul.I love to paint with my oil paints on large sized canvas. My intention is to bring the viewer INTO the paintings, feeling the life force that nature so abundantly shares with me. This is where the artist steps out and the magic between the viewer and his /her inner self occurs. This is what I am thankful for, to be a vehicle for. To make the connection for the individual to his SELF so that he too can witness the power of Spirit through the Gift I have been given to share.SchoolsPels Art School, Manhattan, NYPratt Institute, Brooklyn, NYMediaWatercolors, Oils on Canvas,Mixed Media.
