Materials: Wax, acrylic paint, paper scraps, silk, varnish.

Process: I create a wax rubbing from objects placed under the paper. I use a stencil and sponge paint through it. I use a spray bottle to wet or apply paint to some areas. I collage with paper and fabric. Then, I apply varnish as needed.

Narrative and inspiration: My mother had given a brightly colored seersucker satin cloth. I made a bedroom curtain and watched as the run rose and set, bleaching and thinning the fabric in some sections I remembered the many patterned prints -- the cotton clothes my mother had sewn for me as a child. In this painting I have collaged silk fabric which has a painted appearance. This telegraphs a painted window. The silk is a remnant from my sewing room and is an homage to my multigenerational maternal seamstresses.

Further, my maternal grandmother stencil-painted her drinking glasses. I use the stenciled butterflies symbolically, for it is said that butterflies can pass on memory from generation to generation.

"Butterfly Plaid" is tribute to my maternal line, and "Untouched" is tribute to my paternal line.

- Elizabeth Belstraz

Prints are produced on demand on either mounted canvas, acrylic plexi, or giclee fine art paper in a variety of sizes here in the United States. High quality print reproductions for your home or office designed by artists living with homelessness or disabilities.