About Me

Biography
Elaine L. Hughes holds a Visual Arts Certificate from the University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension, having graduated with distinction in 2018. She now lives in Victoria, BC, where she is an Active Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, exhibiting in both local shows and their gallery on Granville Island, Vancouver, BC. She is also an exhibiting Member of the Metchosin ArtPod, and was an Associate Member of the Coast Collective, where she exhibited regularly and taught workshops, until their closure due to Covid-19.
Hughes works primarily in watercolour, and has participated in many group exhibitions in both Edmonton, AB, and the Victoria area, including both the Sooke Fine Arts Show and the Sidney Fine Art Show. Her paintings are post-impressionistic in style, and are characterized by strong values, intense colours, and variety. Her art is dedicated to showing the forms, moods and beauty of the natural world.
Artist Statement
My journey as an artist began in childhood, with a profound love of both crayons and nature. In my world back then, all that was beautiful was of Nature, and in my grandfather’s studio I first learned to draw using brittle sticks of vine charcoal.
All that is beautiful in my world is still of Nature, and I use my art to try to express the glory and the spirit of life on this planet, our home. I refer to my landscapes as post-Anthropocene, as I focus on the beauty that will somehow outlast our current destructive era. The pressures of human habitation on our world are now immense and dispiriting, but we resonate with a distant memory of a different and happier world, and can envision its blessed return.
“Art is a path on which we honour our world.” - Robert Genn
Solo Exhibitions
2019 Revisions: A Show about Moments in Time, Westridge Gallery, Coast Collective, Sept 11-22, 2019
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 Summer Small Works Show and Sale, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Massey Gallery, Victoria BC (juried)
2022 Bloom, Pendray House at Pacific Landing, Arts & Culture Colwood Society, Colwood BC (juried)
2022 Scenes from Western Canada, Federation of Canadian Artists, online (juried)
2022 Works on Paper 2022, Federation of Canadian Artists, online (juried)
2021 Winter Small Works Show and Sale, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Massey Gallery, Victoria BC (juried)
2021 Passages: Journey Into Art, FCA Victoria, Fortune Gallery & online, Victoria BC (juried)
2021 Now, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2021 Time to Reflect, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC
2021 Nature Trust of BC Artist of the Year Show, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2021 Connected: An ArtPod Members Show, Metchosin ArtPod, Metchosin BC (members only)
2021 En Plein Air Project, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC (fundraiser)
2021 Sooke Fine Arts Show, online (juried)
2021 Here Comes the Sun, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC
2021 Collaborations: CliffSide 6 & Friends, Esquimault Community Art Hub, Esquimault BC
2021 Somewhere in Time, FCA Victoria, online (juried)
2021 Landscapes 2021, Federation of Canadian Artists, online (juried)
2021 Collaborations: CliffSide 6 & Friends, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC
2021 Bloom 12 Transplanted, Coast Collective & Esquimault Community Arts Hub, Esquimault BC (juried)
2021 Emergence, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC
2021 Relations | Island II, Esquimault Community Arts Hub, Esquimault BC (juried)
2021 2021 Works on Paper, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2020 Winter Small Works Show & Sale, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria BC (juried)
2020 Gratitude & Roots, Sooke Arts Council Gallery, Sooke BC
2020 Shape and Form, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2020 Plein Air Show, Metchosin ArtPod, Metchosin BC
2020 Scenes from Western Canada, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2020 Light & Dark, Metchosin ArtPod, Metchosin BC (members only)
2020 The CliffSide 6 at ArtPod, Metchosin ArtPod, Metchosin BC
2020 Sooke Fine Arts Show, online (juried)
2020 Landscape & Still Life, Gallery Ring, online (juried)
2020 Looking In - Looking Out, FCA Victoria, online (juried)
2020 the S.P.A.C.E between, Metchosin Artpod, Metchosin BC, online
2020 Bird & Song, Metchosin Artpod, Metchosin BC (juried)
2020 Group of Seven 100th Anniversary, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2020 Mirrors, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2020 Instructor Showcase, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (invitational)
2019 Fall Exhibition, FCA Victoria, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Haunted, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Scenes From Western Canada, Federation of Canadian Artists, online (juried)
2019 Moss Street Paint-in, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Oceans, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Bloom 11, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 FCA Victoria, Spring Exhibition, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Westridge Collection, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2019 Instructor Showcase, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (invitational)
2018 FCA Victoria, Fall Exhibition, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Revealed, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Nanaimo Fine Art Show, FCA Nanaimo Chapter, Nanaimo BC (juried)
2018 Nature of Island Artists Art Show, Goldstream Nature House, Victoria BC
2018 Scenes From Western Canada, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2018 Galloping Goose: Urban and Rural Landscapes, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Collaborations, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (with Linda Anderson)
2018 Sooke Fine Arts Show, Sooke BC (juried)
2018 Moss Street Paint-in, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Folklore, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Roaming Gallery, Coast Collective, Victoria BC
2018 Aquarelle et Pastel, Federation of Canadian Artists, Vancouver BC (juried)
2018 Bloom 10, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 FCA Victoria Chapter, Spring Show, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Transformations, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Art Space, Juan de Fuca Recreation Center, Victoria BC
2018 Westridge Collection, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2018 Beginnings, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Into the Night, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 FCA Victoria Chapter, Fall Show, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Sidney Fine Art Show, Sidney BC (juried)
2017 Canada 150 Exhibition, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Old School Gallery & Gifts, Metchosin BC
2017 Small Works, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Moss Street Paint-in, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Associates Showcase, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 FCA Victoria Chapter, Spring Show, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Westridge Collection, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2017 Art Space, Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre, Victoria BC
2017 Red, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2016 and earlier, participant in numerous student and art club shows, including:
2016 Small Treasures, Coast Collective, Victoria BC (juried)
2015 30th Anniversary Spring Show, Art Society of Strathcona County, Sherwook Park AB (juried)
2010 No Story Too Small To Trade, Dunlop Art Gallery, Regina SK
2009 Two Dozen, Society of Western Canadian Artists/Scotia Place Edmonton AB (juried)
2003 Open Arts Competition, Allied Arts Council, Spruce Grove AB
2003 Recent Works, Woodbend Gallery and Frame Studio, Devon AB (invitational)
Awards
2017 Honourable Mention, Sidney Fine Art Show, Sidney BC
2017 3rd Place, Fall Show, Victoria Chapter of the FCA
2017 1st Place, Plein Air at the Fort, Colwood Seaside Festival
2015 Feature Artist, December, Society of Western Canadian Artists
2013 Peoples Choice Award (Newsletter Cover Art), Society of Western Canadian Artists
2010 1st Place, Trees Competiton, Art Trader Magazine (online)
2006 Peoples Choice Award (Newsletter Cover Art), Society of Western Canadian Artists
2003 3rd Place (Intermediate), Open Art Competition, Allied Arts Council of Spruce Grove
Teaching
2020 Mountain Landscapes in Watercolour, Coast Collective
2019 Atmospheric Perspective in Watercolour, Coast Collective
2019 Value Design and Techniques for Watercolour, JDF 55+ Activity Centre
2019 The Mountain Landscape in Watercolour, Coast Collective
2019 Mountain Landscapes Using Watercolour, JDF 55+ Activity Centre
2018 Atmospheric Perspective in the Watercolour Landscape, Coast Collective
2018 The Robust Watercolour, Coast Collective
2018 The Mountain Landscape in Watercolour, Coast Collective
2018 Tradeable Art: Fun with ATCs, Coast Collective
Bibliography
2018 "New exhibit inspires artist collaborations," August 8, 2018 Goldstream News Gazette p. A11
2010 No Story Too Small to Trade (Regina: Dunlop Art Gallery, 2010)
2010 “Profile of a Trader,” Vol. 20 ATC Quarterly: An Artist Trading Card Journal p. 5
Memberships
Federation of Canadian Artists, Active Member
Victoria Chapter of the FCA, Member & Newsletter Editor
Metchosin ArtPod, Member
Coast Collective, Associate Member
Juan de Fuca Arts & Crafts Guild, Painters Group Member
Education
Visual Arts Certificate, University of Alberta, Faculty of Extension, with Distinction
Solo Show (graduating exhibit) June 5-17, 2017; graduation June 8, 2018