- Story by Lin Stranberg Photography by Lia Crowe

Elizabeth Cross is inspired by love, passion, art and the environment.

害羞草研究所淭his may sound cheesy, but I believe love is the ultimate thing in life,害羞草研究所� she says.

It害羞草研究所檚 quickly apparent that for Cross, a free-spirited and prolific painter, serious businesswoman and busy mother of three teenage girls, painting itself is a great love affair and grand passion.

Cross has been painting for 30 years, but she held back on exhibiting her work publicly until 2018. It has taken off like a rocket ever since, and eliminated her reluctance for good. She has produced probably 200 paintings for exhibit and sale, and has shown in both Vancouver and Seattle at Art Vancouver, Lillian Gallery and Lynn Hanson Gallery, among other venues. She has also participated in 害羞草研究所渓ive害羞草研究所� painting competitions throughout Vancouver. Her work is currently showing in Kitsilano at Stock Home Design and at Art Downtown, Vancouver害羞草研究所檚 newest outdoor art exhibition.

Her art is mainly abstract: she loves to paint flowers and faces in bold, bright acrylic colours that just explode off the canvases害羞草研究所攂right reds, pinks, yellows and greens, plus black and white for special high-contrast pieces. She makes her paintings more textural with gels, glitter, sparkles and, unusually, bits of used fabric from clothing.

害羞草研究所淚t adds quite a bit of interest and texture and also helps to save the material from going to landfill,害羞草研究所� she says.

Her deep feeling for sustainability and the environment is authentic害羞草研究所攊t害羞草研究所檚 part of her background as a bio-resource engineer and environmental specialist.

After earning her master害羞草研究所檚 degree in bio-resource engineering from UBC, she worked as an environmental advisor in Vancouver for corporations like Telus and YVR. Now she runs her own start-up, Moda Circolare, a consulting agency for new and existing brands of sustainable fashion. The way she sees it, it害羞草研究所檚 a natural offshoot of her environmental advisory.

害羞草研究所淭he issues are the same: social and environmental issues, governance and so on. The difference is that in the case of Telus, for example, the issue may have been electronic waste, while with fashion it害羞草研究所檚 about things like fabric waste or solvents.害羞草研究所�

As much as she helps people with her environmental expertise, her real ambition is to feel and communicate joy through the paintings she make and sells. Earning money through her paintings keeps the whole thing going.

害羞草研究所淚 love to paint big pieces and I can go a little crazy with paint,害羞草研究所� she says.

She always paints outside, often under a big patio umbrella in the rain: 害羞草研究所淭he cold and rain don害羞草研究所檛 bother me, but some days my hands feel like they害羞草研究所檙e freezing.害羞草研究所�

She has no set plan when she begins a canvas. She never paints from nature, models or photographs.

害羞草研究所淚 paint it all from my head,害羞草研究所� she says. 害羞草研究所淚 paint whatever I feel that day, in the colours I feel like using. If I害羞草研究所檓 in a yellow mood, I害羞草研究所檒l paint in that colour that day.害羞草研究所�

She spends an average of four to eight hours on a painting, frequently returning to them.

害羞草研究所淪ometimes they害羞草研究所檙e hard to leave alone害羞草研究所擨害羞草研究所檓 always trying to improve them.害羞草研究所�

She describes herself as a 害羞草研究所渉opeless, dreamy, ridiculously loving害羞草研究所� romantic, and the titles of many of her paintings are overt references to her belief in the appeal of romantic love. 害羞草研究所淢y Lover害羞草研究所檚 Last Kiss,害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所淚 Am So Attracted to You,害羞草研究所� 害羞草研究所淔alling in Love For the First Time害羞草研究所� and 害羞草研究所淟ove Shines Brighter When You Are Near害羞草研究所� are typical titles for both the flowers and faces she likes to paint. The colours all speak of passion. But some of the flowers have a darker aspect and some faces, while abstract, have a feeling of sadness about them that may speak to the mysteries and potential heartaches of love as well.

There are a pair of dress shoes on her website (elizabethcross.ca) that she has painted in orange, purple, blue and green that 害羞草研究所渞epresent the treadmill of daily life, the running out of time and that life is so very precious.害羞草研究所�

But this romantic can be a sentimentalist too. As both a scientist and an artist, she lives in a left brain/right brain duality that is both charismatic and rare.

When she was completing her first degree (in agriculture) at UBC, she took some art courses and picked up the basics of drawing, mixed media, acrylic and oil painting. During that period, she had the pleasure of meeting Zbigniew Kupczynski, a Polish-Canadian abstract expressionist, at a South Granville art store. Kupczynski害羞草研究所檚 wildly colourful portraits of children and celebrities made a lasting impression of her. As a young student, she could only afford his prints and bought two of them. Kupczynski, in turn, was impressed that a student was buying his work.

害羞草研究所淚 loved the vibrant colours he used and the expression of his work. I loved how he geometrically broke down the faces,害羞草研究所� she said.

She took metalwork courses at Van Tech while studying for her master害羞草研究所檚 degree at UBC, and again at BCIT more than 10 years later.

害羞草研究所淲elding害羞草研究所檚 very therapeutic. I used to make tables, beds, candleholders and mirrors and sell them at craft fairs,害羞草研究所� she says, adding that her teenage daughters learned to weld in high school.

Cross, originally from Ontario, travelled extensively as a child. Her father, a geologist, had a career that took him all over the globe, and he moved his family wherever he went. When Elizabeth was 12, they came back to Canada and settled in Vancouver, where she害羞草研究所檚 lived ever since.

She recently moved from the modern house she and her husband built in Dunbar into 害羞草研究所渁 big old yellow house害羞草研究所� in Kerrisdale. It害羞草研究所檚 a family home, full of love and artwork. One of her daughters害羞草研究所� larger-than life metal sculptures welcomes you at the door, making it clear that it害羞草研究所檚 occupied by a very creative family.

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
Like Boulevard Magazine on and follow them on