Plant Portraits

Waverly Street Gallery presents paintings by Eleftheria (Lilina) Williams. Her portraits are of real flowers and plants, which she photographs in nature, at the National Arboretum and even local plant stores. She then uses these photographs as a reference, as she enlarges her subjects to surprise and attract the eye. Williams works mostly with oils on canvas and linen. She chooses dark solid colors for her background, such as black, to emphasize the natural, often bold, colors of flowers and plays with light to bring them to life on the flat canvas. For her still lifes, Williams uses a more traditional method. She starts by applying a wash of burnt sienna on her canvas and builds up her painting by adding colors in thin layers of paint.

She holds a Certificate in Painting and Drawing from the Corcoran College of Art and Design as well as degrees from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio and American University. She has exhibited her work at the Arts Club of Washington and the American Painting Fine Art Gallery. Her paintings are in private collections.