Elaine grew up in Southern California with her twelve siblings. She and the rest of the baker's dozen spent weekends at the beach all year round and many summers camping in the mountains. It was in these places that she developed a love for coastal landscapes and an appreciation for the natural beauty of the Golden State. Elaine was born into a family of artists and anticipated that her future would involve the arts. High school was a clear initiation into her development as an artist and at graduation her instructors awarded her with the school's highest honors in art.

As clear the support for Elaine's art future was, her career followed a less predictable path. Like her peers who joined the Peace Corps to "Save the world", she entered the convent. During the next 7 years, she studied and became a teacher with the Dominicans of Mission San Jose. It was during this time that she was introduced to and inspired by the venerated Renaissance painters as well as contemporary well-known artists such as Corita Kent and Wayne Thiebaud.

After completing college, Elaine made the decision to leave the convent and continue teaching in the Bay Area. She later married and raised 2 loving sons who are her most cherished "accomplishments". As a teacher, she found the classroom to be an excellent place for expressing her creative energy and used the summer breaks to further her education in drawing and painting. In 2000 she was able to pursue a painting career after her sons were "launched".

She has the good fortune of having several brothers and sisters who enjoy exchanging creative ideas about their artwork. Her brother, a well-known Bay Area Painter, Ray Carpenter, lives nearby and both relish times they paint and share ideas.

Her paintings are inspired by the French Impressionists, the early California Plein Air artists and contemporary painters who capture the light and atmosphere of California's inspiring landscapes.

Training:

San Francisco Institute of Art

Cal State University, East Bay

Holy Names University

Saint Mary's College, Moraga

Berkeley City College Art Department

Affiliations:

Oil Painters of America

Laguna Plein Air Painters Association