Pennsylvania based artist Jay Rolfe is this week’s guest blogger for the Artist as Collector Series.
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| Dog Sled
oil on canvas
24″ x 30
©2013ELOR
Collection of Jay Rolfe
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As an artist I love any art that uplifts my spirit. I’ve collected art my entire adult life. My
wife and I currently have displayed in our home 70 artworks by others and 28 of my own.
We have an additional 16 artworks by others displayed in our second home along with 21
of mine. And we have more in storage which we occasionally rotate into our display.
Each of our artworks give me a positive feeling that brightens my day.
The work I’m sharing with you today is an oil painting we fell in love with and
acquired in a gallery Quebec, Canada, during a visit to Montreal many years
ago. I didn’t meet the artist at the exhibition and only know that the artist was Canadian
and signed the painting ELOR. At the time we were living in the far north of New York
State near the Canadian border. Winters were very cold, often with 10 to 20 days at a
time when the mercury didn’t rise above 0° F. The cold was accompanied by lots of snow
that stayed on the ground and got deeper all winter long. What fun for young adults!
This painting, Dog Sled in Blowing Snow, of an Inuit driving a dog sled with eight
Huskies through a sea of blowing snow as the sun goes down, struck me as both beautiful
and a symbol of all the fun we were having in the snow.
The painting hangs over our fireplace, a symbol of warmth and place of honor
Jay Rolfe is a painter, sculpture and mixed media artist whose goal is to uplift the spirit, nourish the soul, show awe of the mystery, and create beauty using color, shape, and humor.
Good day,
I as well have a painting that was signed ELOR. From what i can tell by researching ELOR, is that it was short for Elizabeth O’Rourke.
She was a Painter who lived from 1913 – 1997, She was born in Poland.
Hope this helps.
That is so interesting Brian, thank you! I will be sure and mention this information to Jay Rolfe when I speak with him again.
My wife and I met Elizabeth O’Rourke when we attended McGill University in the 60s. We have 5 of her paintings and love all of them. We wish we had elected an Inuit painting of hers as well as a chieftain in full headdress. We do not plan to sell these paintings for at least another 10 years since they are our favorites among a large collection of fine art.
Many prints of her work hung in the Chateau Champlain (now Mariott-owned) in Montreal, when Montreal Canadiens’ defenseman Serge Savard owned the hotel.
We would love to connect with others who are in love with her work, since she is virtually an unknown in New Jersey where we have resided for many years.
Karin and Keith May
104 Spinnaker Lane,
Red Bank, NJ 07701
What a wonderful connection Karin and Keith! Thank you for finding this post- and the work of Elizabeth O’Rourke. I am not sure if Jay Rolfe knows the name of the artist he collects judging from his post. I will do my best to share this with him, though I am not sure he is in this area any more. Coincidently- We lived in Red Bank for many years before moving to PA several years ago. The adventure continues!
I tool have a painting by Elizabeth O’Rourke aka ELOR. I inherited it from mother who must have gotten it somewhere in our hometown of Montreal. It now resides in my bedroom in my house in BC. It is one of my favorite pieces
I love how a work of art finds its way into our homes- and our lives. Thank you for sharing your story about ELOR- whose work I was not aware of until I did this series, and since heard from others who love and appreciate your paintings. Thank you again!
Glad to see that your enjoying mother’s paintings. I am thinking of organising a retrospective of her work, possibly Montréal.
George O’Rourke
41 av de Villeneuve l’Etang
78000 Versailles
France
So glad you found your way to this post–trust you saw some of the comments that many people have come to find and appreciate your mother’s work.
What a wonderful legacy she has left and a retrospective sounds like a great idea.