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Ellen Hedfield

Painting, Watercolor, Encaustic

Studio

3535 D Street
Sacramento, CA 95816
Weekend Two

About Ellen Hedfield

Artist’s Statement

My watercolor paintings celebrate the beauty and dignity of the ordinary things that have been cast aside – beautiful, weathered, abandoned objects that once had a job to do. I find these treasures when exploring wide-open spaces of the rural West. I stop to examine the things that draw my attention - equipment, signs, vehicles, and structures - and their textures, colors, and shadows.

Working from my own photographs and using a tightly-framed composition, I depict in detail the weathered surfaces and materials – wood and glass, metal and stone - and use bold color to portray textures and decay. I begin by laying down large, pigment-heavy "wet-in-wet" washes, then progressively add layers of detail to create texture. With emphasis on highlights and deep shadows, my subjects - with their peeling paint, rusty metal, and broken glass - come alive in three dimensions. I love to depict subjects that have succumbed to the passage of time, with their beautiful, weathered textures. 

Biography

Ellen Hedfield paints visually powerful watercolor portraits that honor the beauty and dignity of ordinary things that have succumbed to the passage of time. Traveling rural back roads and historic highways, she seeks out buildings, equipment, vehicles, and signs that once had a job to do. Her watercolor paintings bring her subjects to life with intense colors and detailed textures. Recent work incorporates encaustic over watercolor for a luminous, layered finish.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Ellen was immersed in the automotive culture of factories, cars, and machinery. She subsequently built a foundation of drafting and mechanical drawing as part of her engineering studies. Ellen took up watercolor painting in the 1990s as a creative outlet to balance her engineering career. Now living in far northern California, she travels widely through the rural western US with an enthusiasm for discovery.

Solo Exhibits

  • 2026: Along the Side of the Road, East Bay Municipal Utility District Headquarters Lobby Gallery, Oakland, California
  • 2026, 2025: The Sound Room, Oakland, California
  • 2024:  Art in the City, Redding City Hall, Redding, California (featured artist)
  • 2023: Carter House Gallery/North Valley Art League, Redding, California
  • 2022: Mosaic Gallery, Turtle Bay Exploration Park, Redding, California

Selected Group Exhibits

  • 2026: Unbridled, A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art, Trinidad, Colorado
  • 2025: North Valley Art League Regional Painting Show, Redding, California
  • 2025: California Watercolor Association 55th International Exhibition, Piedmont, California
  • 2024, 2021, 2018: Northern California Arts Bold Expressions International Open, Carmichael, California
  • 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020: North Valley Art League North State Juried Painting Show, Redding, California
  • 2024:  Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
  • 2024, 2018, 2017: Rockies West National Watercolor Exhibition, Western Colorado Watercolor Society, Grand Junction, Colorado
  • 2023, 2019: Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Center for the Arts, Evergreen, Colorado
  • 2023: The Shelley Lazarus Award for Excellence in Watercolor juried exhibit, The Artists Gallery, Los Angeles, California
  • 2023: Magnum Opus, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael, California
  • 2023, 2021, 2019: Turtle Bay West Coast Biennial Juried Art Exhibition, Redding, California
  • 2020:  Water + Color National Juried Exhibition, Pence Gallery, Davis, California
  • 2020:  Representing the West: A New Frontier, Sangre de Cristo Arts Center, Pueblo, Colorado
  • 2018: Chico Art Center Discovery Series, Chico, California (1 of 5 selected emerging artists)
  • 2018, 2016, 2015, 2013: North Valley Art League Juried National Painting Show, Redding, California
  • 2017, 2016: Chico Art Center National All Media Juried Show, Chico, California
  • 2017, 2016: Placerville Arts Association Annual National Mother Lode Art Exhibition, Placerville, California
  • 2014: North Valley Art League Small Painting Juried Exhibit, Redding, California
  • 2001: Landau-Mintz Gallery, Anchorage, Alaska
  • 2001, 1999, 1998, 1997: Alaska Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibit, Anchorage, Alaska

Awards

  • 2025 North Valley Art League Regional Juried Painting Show, Merit Award, for “Desert Refresh”
  • 2024 Northern California Arts Bold Expressions 69th International Open, Expressions of Excellence Award for “Icon”
  • 2024 North Valley Art League, North State Juried Painting Show, 3rd Place, for “Cast in Place”
  • 2023 North Valley Art League North State Juried Painting Show, Honorable Mention, for “Southbound”
  • 2023 Shelley Lazarus Award for Excellence in Watercolor, Honorable Mention, for “Watching Over the Desert”
  • 2021 Turtle Bay West Coast Biennial Juried Art Exhibition, 3rd Prize, for “Last Stop”
  • 2019 Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Woden Woods Inc. Award, for “Hill Top’s Former Glory”
  • 2017 Placerville Arts Association Annual National Mother Lode Art Exhibition, Wayne Coleman Roots Award, for “Tribute (Oh, the Places We’ve Been)”
  • 2016 Chico Art Center National All Media Juried Show, Honorable Mention, for “Winslow”
  • 2016 Placerville Arts Association Annual National Mother Lode Art Exhibition, Honorable Mention, for “Curvature”

Publications

  • Wild at Art:  Hedfield ’85 on Life After Engineering, Michigan Technological University Office of Alumni Engagement, Alumni and Friends Stories, July 2025
  • Beauty in Decay, Enjoy Magazine - Northern California Living, December 2022

Workshops/Instruction

  • Charlie Hunter and Jason Sacran, "Painter's Path 2026" - 9-month juried professional painters program
  • Diane Gill (Anchorage, Alaska): drawing coursework, University of Alaska, and studio instruction
  • Sandi Palmer (Cottonwood, California): studio instruction
  • Cynthia Schildhauer (Chico, California): “Paint Big” workshop
  • Joe Garcia (Julian, California) and Adele Earnshaw (New Zealand): watercolor workshop
  • Jeannie Vodden (Jackson, California): watercolor workshop
  • Troy Hawkins (Redding, California): collage and assemblage workshop
  • Linda Nunes (Sacramento, California): encaustic painting workshop

Membership

  • California Watercolor Association
  • North Valley Art League, Redding, California (board member)
  • Chico Art Center, Chico, California
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