About the exhibit

A rainbow of portraits painted from life by Eliza Evans and scenes from the natural world by Allie Kelly.

Allie and Eliza have been friends for a long time. They have always connected over art and color, and growing flowers, herbs and trees. This is their second show together entitled “People and Trees.”

Allie’s Artist Statement

This collection of paintings is inspired from observations made while visiting and sitting with nature. Painting on site and in the studio, I appreciate and strive to capture the layers of color, the changing of light, the passing of time, the movement and harmony of my surroundings.

Eliza’s Artist Statement

I love to look carefully at every worthy face and paint what I see as quickly, efficiently and accurately as I can. I particularly enjoy mixing and matching colors. I probably spend more time on the eyes than any other part of the face or torso. People are usually looking at me while I paint them. We usually chat and I get to visit while I work but I’m not always the best listener because I might be thinking about angles or colors or what the light is doing. But I still feel like I know someone after painting them even if it’s the first time we’re meeting. People often turn out to be different than I thought based on my initial impression when we first sit down. I love the surprises and being reminded to not judge books by their cover! I’ve painted some people multiple times like my husband and kids, and my parents and my grandmother and certain friends. It always comes out differently. I do the portraits in one sitting (a moment in time) and let the person I’m painting choose the background color for the portrait. I like to organize the many faces into rainbow order to display them. To me it’s the most beautiful way. I’ve always been mildly obsessed with the color wheel. There’s something healing about the beauty there. If you’re paying attention you’ll see rainbows all the time in nature-in a bee’s wing, or a shimmering bubble, or the way a flower blooms from green through yellow and orange to red and maybe even all the way to purple. Organizing the paintings in this way on the wall brings everyone together into one beautiful full spectrum of humanity. We’re all human and in this divided time it’s important to remember our connection even as we appreciate our differences. Free Palestine!!

About the artists

Allie Kelly lives in Buckingham County near the James River with her husband and their dog. She has been painting her surroundings there for over 20 years. Allie gathers her supplies, heads out for a walk and finds a place to sit and paint—sometimes returning with no painting, having just taken her art supplies for a walk. She enjoys going back to favorite spots to witness the changes there.

Allie explores various media, including woodcuts, ink, gouache, acrylic and oil paint, as well as pigments she makes from local minerals and plants; painting on paper, canvas, wood and slate. Her sketchbook is always near. She works with her husband, Red to make the frames using salvaged wood.

Allie’s lifestyle revolves around observing nature, tending her garden and food forest, cooking on a wood fire, canoeing and using natural building techniques at home.

Eliza Evans lives and grows plants on a beautiful piece of land in North Garden. Her farm is called Wild Orchard Farm. She collects fruit trees and flowers and herbs and is an avid bird watcher and mushroom forager. She loves snakes and moths and every kind of biodiversity. She has three children, a husband, chickens, two dogs, and a cat. She has been painting acrylic portraits from life mostly on wood but occasionally on paper or pillows or in murals since 2006. She has painted hundreds and hundreds of people since then. She takes commissions and people will usually come to her house to sit for her. If the weather is nice she will paint them on her porch, if not they go inside where the light is good. It takes about an hour for her to complete the portrait. She typically charges $100 per person but is open to bartering. She also does new paintings of friends and family every year for the Every Day is a Holiday Calendar that she has been making with her friend, Virginia Rieley for the past 20 years. She builds her own frames. For the last several years Eliza has done volunteer work in the public schools, painting portraits of kids. At the moment she is working on a big mural in the cafeteria of Walton Middle School, where two of her children attend. Kids love being painted! Check out her Instagram wildorchardfarm to see progress on this exciting mural and also pictures of flowers and pollinators and Eliza’s adorable kids.