About Erica Driver
Bio
Erica Driver is a contemporary New England painter based in Little Compton, Rhode Island (USA). Working primarily on location to capture the essence of a place and reflect the spirit of its inhabitants, she creates vibrant, detailed paintings of gardens, greenhouses, landscapes and places where people live and work. She paints primarily with acrylic paint marker on wood panel, sometimes incorporating acrylic paint and ink.
After earning her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Erica spent more than three decades in high tech marketing before returning to her first love: making art. She draws inspiration from the muralists of Providence, Rhode Island and Valencia, Spain, and the work of Niki de Saint Phalle and Antoni Gaudí.
Erica has exhibited her work nationally at galleries and museums including Jessica Hagen Fine Art + Design and Bristol Art Museum in Rhode Island, Butler Institute of American Art in Ohio, Attleboro Arts Museum in Massachusetts, the National Art Club Grand Gallery and Edward Hopper House Museum in New York, Customs House Museum in Tennessee, and the Meadows Gallery at University of Texas at Tyler. Her work is in private and public collections including the State of Rhode Island and the University of Texas at Tyler.
Erica is a juried signature member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) and belongs to national and regional arts organizations including American Women Artists (Associate with Distinction), NAWA Massachusetts, Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Portsmouth Arts Guild, South Coast Artists, and South County Art Association.
Artist Statement
Leaves unfold from one day to the next. Light shifts from hour to hour. People continually rearrange the objects of their daily lives. I am a Little Compton artist inspired by the life around me. My goal is to capture the vibe of a place and the beauty of everyday moments. As a Rhode Island plein air painter, I work primarily on location, where I sift through the complexity of a scene to identify the details that reveal what makes a place meaningful to its inhabitants. Working on wood panel, I build layered images using acrylic paint marker along with acrylic paint and ink. I thin the pigment with water and medium and move it across the surface with markers and brushes until the accumulated marks create a convincing sense of place.