About
Elizabeth Laurel Zuspann Wiley
Elizabeth (Liz) Wiley was born in Abilene, TX, where her passion for horses started. She studied at The University of Texas at Arlington with a focus in ceramics. She fell in love with painting and developed a style and technique that incorporates her pottery tools into her painting process. She now lives in Dallas and works full time as an artist.
Liz, mostly known for her modern horse paintings, finds inspiration in all equestrian activities. Her goal is to depict different horse sports or working horse jobs from the past and present. These modern horse paintings are often created in a group or series. Other paintings are created to be alone. Whether they are part of a series or stand-alone paintings, Liz wants the viewer to have an emotional response and be left with a feeling of peace and calm.
Her style is loose and free. There are graphic elements with playful layers of paint. She captures the gracefulness of horses. Simplifying the subject and often leave areas unpainted or left out. The faces of riders are never given much detail. Having the viewer to be able to imagine what they want to see.
“Every painting is an evolution and part of my journey to my own self-mastery of becoming me and the self-mastery of my style and technique. I’m always learning and evolving what I know and do. They are time capsules, capturing the emotion of the moment in each painting. They have taught me that they are not individual paintings. They are all parts of the same story and each painting is like one chapter of a paragraph at a time. They are all apart of one larger picture, a larger story, my story. I’m only able to tell it in small moments, but they are all connected.
A favorite of mine is finding new tools, techniques, and mediums to use. I can become obsessed with learning. I love attending art workshops, getting lost on Pinterest, and exploring unconventional stores for new tools. Inspiration is everywhere. I have even made my own paintbrushes using the hair from my mom’s horses.
Sharing these new findings is almost as fun as learning them. Workshops are held twice a year at my studio to share the knowledge I have attained throughout my journey. Tips and videos are regularly posted on my Facebook (Liz Wiley Fine Artist) and Instagram (@lizwileyfineart) accounts. Also being a member of many art groups that share and teach has helped me grow and allow me to help others grow as an artist.”
Liz uses heavy body and fluid acrylic paints to create her modern horse paintings. Heavy body acrylic helps her attain beautiful texture and thick consistency. You can also see the scratch marks where she marks through the thick paint and leaves thin crisp lines. She uses fluid acrylics to create thin lines that have become a staple in her work.
Her work has been featured in Crate & Barrel catalogs and in articles in Horse and Style Magazine, The Chronicle of the Horse Magazine, Heels Down Magazine, EtsyDallas, Maryland Equestrian, and Paard Verzameld, Voyage Dallas Magazine, Saddle Seeks Horse, Bozzuto Green Art Gallery, Tate Studio, Neiman Marcus Dallas Pure Beauty Spa, Craighead Green Gallery, The Center for Contemporary Arts Breed Gallery, Fort Works Gallery, and CCAN 2020.
Elizabeth, who attributes her mom for the love of horses, is now passing that love onto her two children who are now taking horse riding lessons.
To view more of Wiley’s beautiful modern horse paintings that are available for sale, visit her at www.lizwiley.etsy.com