Elise Hornbeck
As an artist I try to capture a memory and convey the essence of where I am at that very moment in time and space, so that I can share the image with others. Watercolor is my medium of choice, as it has the qualities to give life to my impressions, plus the added spontaneity and unexpected results that give each painting its uniqueness.
I have always felt a bond with the mountains, they give me comfort, strength, and inspiration. One of my many blessings is that my family and I own a farm, on a mountain overlooking the Rondout Reservoir, located within the Blue Line of the Catskill Mountains. Every dawn presents its own masterpiece and never is the scene repeated.
As well as having a passion for drawing and painting our Catskill and Adirondack mountains, I love painting the old covered bridges and barns of New York State, trying to capture and share their beauty. The majestic overshot barns of Delaware County are a special concern because they have outlived their use, so many are being abandoned and left to decay and will soon disappear from our landscape.
One of my other passions is local history and trying to recapture visions of the valleys that lie beneath the waters of the New York City Reservoirs, the farms, the towns, the buildings and sometime even the people. For this I have to delve into other people's memories, so that I may preserve in some small way a visual record of what is no more, before even the memories are gone.