Elena Garcia was born into an artistic American family of Hispanic and British heritage. She clearly recalls her discovery and fascination with color blending at the age of five. Contemporary artists of California were Elena’s first mentors. She went on to study the European masters, and modern and impressionist movements.
In the seventies, Elena began exhibiting her drawings and watercolor paintings in juried and invitational shows from San Francisco to Laguna Beach. In 1980, Colorado’s majestic Rocky Mountains became her inspiration and winter home. She was buried in a roof avalanche at her isolated mountain cabin in 1994, and vowed to move to Hawai‘i if she survived.
Here in Hawai‘i, Elena has expanded her media to include acrylic and oil painting and has earned statewide attention. Elena has exhibited and been artist-in-residence at several of the Big Island’s exclusive resorts. Her paintings have been exhibited in juried shows and fine art galleries on the mainland and through-out the Islands, including the Invitational Showcases of 2002 and 2003 at the Academy of Arts Museum in Honolulu.
The human condition, her imagination, and the beauty of the Big Island inspire Elena. She lives and paints a few blocks from her favorite surf-break in Kailua-Kona.