Elissa Gore is a landscape painter who paints from both observation and memory. In her work, Elissa strives to find a feeling of the universal in the natural landscape. Sunset walks and frequent studies painted at Cooper Lake inspires many of her large works as she is influenced by water. Forty years ago, she decided she wanted to make art about nature, starting with sculptures and drawings of human anatomy and plants. Later, she discovered the feeling she wanted to express in art was communicated best in paintings of the landscape.

“I try to surround the viewer with atmosphere or a panoramic view, that reflects a transcendent moment I feel. The point of the image is to put together something that’s expressive of the emotional observations of the person making the art. I respond especially to places that include air, earth and water. Without water the plants all die, and the same thing with life. The paintings become paintings about the environment. I’m not an illustrator of a conservation message, but the concept is this is the natural world and it’s very beautiful. Let’s keep it the way it is.”

Originally from Philadelphia, Elissa Gore now lives in New York City. She studied at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Art. Her work is often shown nationally and is included in over 60 public collections.