Eden Compton
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Artist’s Bio
Art, food and travel have been the guiding interests and inspiration of artist Eden Compton’s life. Along the way to becoming a full time professional artist, Eden has worked as an advertising professional in New York City working on major accounts at worldwide agencies; earned a professional culinary degree from the prestigious French Culinary Institute in NYC; owned a specialty catering business whose clients included Martha Stewart and Glamour Magazine and worked as a charter yacht chef aboard a 62 foot sailboat in the Caribbean.
Originally from Connecticut, Eden and her New Zealand born husband have spent the last decade sailing professionally; spending the summers in New England and the winters in the Caribbean and Florida. When not sailing, she and her husband travel extensively both abroad and within the US particularly in the New England area. She has been painting full time since 2003 and was the artist in residence at Hawk’s Cay Resort in the Florida Keys for two years.
Her formal art education began with a BA in Art History from Colgate University and independent courses at the International Center for Photography in NYC. She has studied with Master Pastelist Doug Dawson and taken workshops with nationally known artists such as Alan Flattman, Lois Wooley and Colin Page among others. Her award winning work has been included in numerous national juried shows including the Catherine Lorillard Society, Salmagundi and the International Pastel Society as well as numerous regional and local shows. She is a member of the Connecticut Pastel Society, the Cape Cod Pastel Society, Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society and Florida Plein Air. She is also a juried member of the Degas Pastel Society and Oil Painters of America.
Artist’s Statement
My extensive travel has sparked an interest in different types of subject matter ranging from cityscapes to market scenes to figurative paintings. I am particularly drawn to old buildings with character, small towns untouched by Starbucks, colorful markets and colorful people. I search for “moments of authenticity” wherever I am traveling: unguarded and unposed moments where people are going about their daily lives shopping, eating or socializing. I particularly like to combine my figurative and landscape work. My main goal is to establish a mood or atmosphere that will hopefully resonate in some way with the viewer by sparking a memory or evoking a particular feeling or emotion.
In the past year, I have made a dedicated effort to paint most of my landscape work "en plein air". I believe that painting outside in one session produces the most honest and compelling interpretations possible in landscape painting. I work in both pastel and oil. I love pastels for their immediacy and the shimmering, sparkling effect that I can get with a stick of pastel and my handmade sanded paper. I am equally taken with oil paint. I love the versatility of oil and the beautiful, subtle color harmonies that can be made with just a few tubes of paint.
Most of all, though, my art is concerned with the formal aspects of painting itself. When I am painting my first thoughts are about design, color harmony, edges and how to produce the most visually interesting and compelling piece possible. This can only be achieved through mastering the fundamental basics of painting which is an ongoing challenge that lasts a lifetime.
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