Erica Driver
ARTIST BIO
Erica Driver is a visual artist based in Little Compton, Rhode Island. She creates lively, vibrant paintings using acrylic paint markers on wood panel, usually working en plein air to capture the immediacy of her surroundings. 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 credits her artistic foundation to passionate teachers and mentors, as well as thousands of hours spent modeling for artists and art students during college. Erica draws inspiration from the street artists of Providence, Rhode Island and Valencia, Spain, and the work of Niki de Saint Phalle and Antoni Gaudí. Her work is included in private and public collections, including the State of Rhode Island.
Erica is a juried signature member of the National Association of Women Artists (NAWA) and belongs to regional organizations including NAWA Massachusetts, Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Portsmouth Arts Guild, South Coast Artists, South County Art Association, and Wickford Art Association.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am inspired by the life that surrounds me—plants and flowers, the workplaces we inhabit, and the possessions we cherish. These everyday sources of meaning emerge in the details I capture in my paintings. I work primarily onsite and en plein air, drawn to the challenge of depicting the essence of a location as it changes before me: weather shifting, light moving, flowers unfolding, and people rearranging the objects of their daily lives. This constant motion fuels my process and sharpens my focus on capturing a moment in time. My medium of choice is acrylic paint markers on wood panel. The fast-drying nature of the paint markers allows me to build layer upon layer, sometimes thinning the paint with medium or moving it around with brushes, until I get the illusion I am seeking.