Le vieux marronnier en fleur, Péchal
(The old chestnut in flower, Péchal)

Gouache painting, plein air, August 1980

Copyright © by MaRco Elliott. All rights reserved.

Low tide at Strawberry Hill, Oregon coast

Gouache painting, plein air, July 2018

Copyright © by MaRco Elliott. All rights reserved.

—Paintings and “Arteest Statement” are reproduced here with artist’s permission.

—As MaRco says, “The upper case R is a wee wink at Rebellion, Rambling, or Raymond (my French maternal grandfather’s first name).”

Arteest Statement

Over the years my work has been eclectic and diverse in the various media used as a means of expressions. One aspect has remained constant: a deep reverence for what some call Eros and others have called Nature. Whether as a printmaker or as a painter, the human female figure and vast landscapes have been my essential focus. Since moving to Oregon, I have rediscovered an old passion: plein air painting. I thrive with the adrenaline rush brought on by tackling mano a mano the complex emotions conveyed by our human perception of the Great Cosmic Outdoors and attempting to translate them, brush in hand, in a state of astonished contemplation.

MaRco Elliott

is a painter and author who grew up in the foothills of the southern Mediterranean Alps and attended the École Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. As a young man, he spent time traveling in several countries and carried several sketchbooks along. After settling in southern France, he was awarded art commissions for street murals, created a body of plein air paintings, and often made ends meet as a graphic artist/illustrator and by doing manual jobs, most notably as an apprentice Stonemason restoring a medieval castle in the Haut Var.

While documenting murals to be featured in a book he was writing for a Parisian publisher, he met his future wife, Joann Carrabbio, also a painter, a muralist who was teaching art in Los Angeles. Soon, he himself was teaching art in Los Angeles. During that 22-year period, he was awarded commissions to create three murals with students for SPARC & the Cultural Affairs of L.A. and for the Metropolitan Transit Authority. In 2000, he completed a second book for the same Parisian publisher, entitled Secrets de la Carte a Gratter (Secrets of Scratchboard) (LTA, Paris).

In 2009, MaRco and Joann moved to Eugene, Oregon, where he continues to expand his body of plein air paintings and is working on several book projects. Read more about his travel adventures in his expanded bio and visit his galleries at: marcoelliott.com.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Art show at downtown Eugene Public Library reflects an artist’s fascination with the Oregon coast as well as the France of his childhood by Randy Bjornstad in The Eugene Review (9 September 2017)

⚡ Artist of Many Styles + Gallerist with Same Ideas = Eclectic Show at Downtown Eugene Gallery by Randy Bjornstad in The Eugene Scene (23 December 2016)