Elfrida Schragen

Elfrida Schragen is a successful Victoria, Canada and Delray Beach, Florida artist who works in oil, pastels and sculpture. She has shown and sold in Canada and the United States, specializing in portrait and plein air painting. She completed a charitable project of painting portraits of the homeless to support ' Our Place' shelters in 2007 and 2014. She works in Victoria, BC, Canada and in Delray Beach, Florida, USA, both of which have thriving arts communities and galleries large and small. Elfrida's work is in there amongst such diversity and quality and has been highlighted in solo shows, juried group shows and in winning places in plein air competitions. As well as regular shows she accepts commissions and can be contacted via Green Chair Gallery for details.

Artist's statement:

This year has had many challenges for me. One of them is that I can no longer go to Florida for the winter where the light is bright and the subject matter for painting are both endless. But as we don’t always choose our situations, and some cannot be helped no matter what, I felt I had better make peace with the presenting environment. In Victoria (capital of British Columbia, Canada) this means days upon days of rain, damp, wind, and fog. This summer also blew a lot of haze in from the mainland US forest fires. This is the basis for my choice of subject matter and the rather satirical title “The Joys of Inclement Weather”. Doing this series has really helped me to appreciate the subtle world of “grey” - warm grey, cold grey, dark and light grey, etc. Reflections are also a treat to observe and a challenge to paint. I feel this series has improved my painting and colour choices all round. Hope you enjoy the paintings!