Biography & Resume
Elise Black was born and raised in New York. From a very early age she gravitated to art and design in all of its’ many forms. As a teenager she created intricate hand painted eggs depicting species of birds and foliage. This was her first commercial experience as an artist. Her work sold briskly through a handcraft gallery in New York. She was accepted to the Fashion Institute of Technology and decided to choose an industry where she could apply her creativity. She studied Fashion Illustration and upon graduation began freelancing for various design companies. This led to positions as a clothing designer for various children’s wear manufacturers which were able to utilize her ability as an artist when designing screen prints and textiles used in her own designs. She later started her own company, Elise Black Design in NYC, which provided companies such as Speedo, Rossignol, Mistral, and Olympic Games licensees will full design and merchandising services. During her years as a Designer, she continued to pursue her interest in fine art by studying clay sculpture at night. She was particularly interested in architectural elements as well as figurative subjects and sometimes incorporated both by creating gargoyles from her imagination.
After marrying and moving to Westport, Connecticut in 1991 to raise a family, Elise continued her education and began to experiment with large-scale sculpture, learning the fundamentals of metal fabrication. She also began to paint prolifically and continues to enjoy experimenting with many different materials in her 2 and 3 dimensional artwork. . She started exhibiting her multi media work once again in galleries and juried shows, and found an enthusiastic audience for her creations. Her work has sold to many private collectors here and abroad and is part of many corporate collections. In 2001, Elise was commissioned to create permanent site-specific sculpture installations outside of Saugatuck and Kings Highway Elementary Schools in Westport, Ct.
Elise is a past president of the New York Society of Women Artists, and is affiliated with the Society of Ct. Sculptors and the New Canaan Sculpture Society. She lends her time and talent to various schools and charities and is a board member of Project Return, a residential facility for troubled teen-aged girls in Westport, Ct.
Resume
Education
• Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC 1979-1982
• Dual degrees in Advertising and Communications and Fashion Illustration
• Postgraduate studies include clay sculpture at F.I.T. with Jerry Luisi 1986-1988
• Metal Fabrication at Silvermine School of Art, New Canaan, Ct. 1992-2001
• Various workshops in different mediums Silvermine School of Art 1991-present
Work History 1982-1991
Held freelance and staff positions as an Illustrator and later as a Designer in the fashion industry. Owned and operated Elise Black Design in NYC providing active sportswear manufacturers (such as Speedo, Rossignol, Mistral, Olympic Games and NFL Football licensees) with full design, graphic and merchandising services.
Juried Shows / Selected Exhibits 1995 to Present
• 125 Main Street, Westport, Ct. “Humanform” a one-woman multi-media installation in office building atrium (2001 to present).
• Pleiades Gallery, NYC group show with New York Society of Women Artists
• Flinn Gallery, Greenwich, ct. group show with NYSWA
• Carriage Barn, New Canaan, Ct. 80th anniversary show of NYSWA
• James Beard House, NYC Two One woman shows of mixed media still lifes (Feb 2003, Jan 2005)
• Savacou Gallery, NYC group show “Global Art”
• Get Real Art, NYC
• “Emergence” one woman show at ChiArtcentre, Westport, Ct. (2007-2008)
Selected Publications
• Two covers of “Woman Magazine” July and October 1996 featuring Photos of paintings:
• “French Poster” and “Lounging Lady”
• “The Art of the Birdhouse” Book published 2006
• Veranda Magazine, July/Aug 2007 picture of “Sand and Sea”, mixed-media multi-panel wall hung painting.
Outdoor Sculpture Commissions
• Town of Westport: “Walkway” at Saugatuck Elementary School and “Triplay” at Kings Highway Elementary School.
• World cup Nursery School, Chappaqua, NY
Artist Guilds
• New York Society of Women Artists
• New Canaan Sculpture Society
• Society of Connecticut Sculptors
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