A late summer drive through the winding roads of Cape Breton Island found this scene of vivid contrasts. The clear day accentuated the brilliant yellows and jewel-like tones of the distant marshes.

This illustration has been used for a number of print purposes that called for a sunflower theme.

10" x 12" gouache on Arches paper.

A detail from Gannon & Benjamin's boat shop interior.

Gannon & Benjamin is a well-known wooden boat shop and marine railway in Vineyard Haven, on the island of Martha's Vineyard. Elizabeth was pleased to be able to study and photograph many tools and aspects of the workshop and boats under construction. This illustration also appeared in Good Old Boat magazine.

7" x 8" gouache on Canson paper.

Heavily pigmented watercolor applied to a Canson paper background brought out the textures in this illustration of a building detail at Nijo-jo, an impressive Japanese castle in Kyoto. The grounds at Nijo are filled with wonderful buildings and details, beautifully preserved. 

Gates and screens are decorated with engravings, cut-outs and painted adornment, and details such as the one seen here abound. Also of interest are the gardens which contain more varied forms and textures.

22" x 24" watercolor on Canson paper.

The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum requested a design that could be used on t-shirts for the shipwright apprentice program. The illustration included two projects that were being completed at that time: the restoration of the skipjack Rosie Parks, and the building of the buy boat Old Point. Added to the design was the signature building on the museum grounds, the Hooper Strait lighthouse.

2 color design printed on a khaki background.

14" x 17" 2-color separation

Along with a continual apprenticeship program, the boat shop at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum also has an Apprentice for a Day program for the public.

In order to provide an illustration that would be general in terms of project but represent the Apprentice for a Day experience, Elizabeth Whelan drew a selection of boat shop tools and an appropriate plan for a small craft.

2-color illustration printed on a pale blue background.

14" x 13" separations for screenprint.

The old flour mill in St. Michaels, Maryland is an amazing example of machinery created in the 1920's, using wood for most of the conveyors and housings. The building complex is now home to shops, a winery and brewery, however the old millstone and equipment remain as they were at the time the mill closed in the 1970's.

Elizabeth Whelan had a studio at the mill for a number of years and did a number of studies of the mill workings during that time.

18" x24" mixed media on Canson paper.

One of the enjoyable aspects of visiting a musuem boat shop or any wooden boat shop, for that matter, is the interesting assortment of subject matter for illustration. These items were salvaged from and for restoration projects taking place on old boats of the Chesapeake Bay.

"I prefer not to pose objects, instead I like to catch a scene as it is. I find compositions suggest themselves from life without needing much help. A pile of tools laying just as the shipwright left them, or items such as these, placed carefully with like objects and labeled for future identification, these are scenes from our times and have added interest due to natural context."

7" x 12" gouache on Canson paper.

The midtone background was perfect for showing these two plants: Snow in Summer, a low-growing plant favored in rock gardens which can be quite invasive depending on the growing zone, and Monkshood, which is well-known as being a highly-toxic but gorgeous flowering perennial.

This illustration started with a pencil sketch and was completed in Painter, using a loose drawing style.

Digital illustration.

A series of watercolour and colored pencil illustrations on tinted Canson paper were used in a number of nautical publications including Good Old Boat magazine. These blocks were hanging inside the boatshop at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and the way they caught the sunlight in late afternoon is intensified by the gold background and the warm tones.

8" x 10" mixed media on Canson paper.

This gouache illustration of a series of garden herbs accompanied an interesting article in Edible Vineyard magazine on various methods for harvesting and preserving herbs in the fall. This included freezing cilantro and parsley, a very useful way to keep these herbs around all winter.

"For reference material I dashed out to the herb garden and picked some suitable subjects. As the masters say, it's important to paint from life! The tarragon in the middle was the most interesting plant as the fall weather was upon us and the leaves were curling in a lyrical manner."

This design is being expanded into a fabric and wallpaper line based on North American herbs found in most kitchen gardens, using a similar artwork style and palette.

9" x 6" gouache on Arches paper.