About
I was born in north London where I studied primarily at Hornsey and Harrow Colleges of Art.
From an early age I loved to draw the figure and to construct things. I worked as an illustrator and teacher.
I moved to Cornwall in 1995 when family commitments eased. Cornwall fulfilled a longing to experience nature more fully, and I welcomed being able to immerse myself in saltwater, spending time in the strange China Clay landscape and in the stream-fed woodlands around Truro. My mark-making shifted into collaging and became more three-dimensional, through papier mache, Plasticine and into clay, landing on porcelain.
During this time, an interlude with watercolour and plasticine lightened my sometime-labouring creative spirits - and in 2010 an alter ego ‘Eliza Freespirit’ gradually emerged. This work embraced a growing, creative community connection. Social media was used to widen Eliza’s profile and Plasticine ‘Eliza’s’ travelled worldwide. The ‘Freespirits' workshops built on Eliza’s growing profile.
Over this period, I was also becoming increasingly curious about citrus peel. What intrigued me initially were the various peeling methods that people adopted as routine, and as a result the various three-dimensional forms taken on by the peel when the fruit within was removed, as the peel aged and as the peel dried.
Exploring ways of working with citrus peel, this sturdy, usually discarded material, has since become central to my art practice.
Following a recent exploratory visit to the orange harvest in Andalucía, I wrote in my diary;
‘CITRUS – those familiar but gorgeously-exotic fruits that sway seductively in the sun from sagging branches; fruits that hold deep within, tiny purses of piquant liquid, which are encased by layer upon layer of nature’s ingenious packaging…’
LIZZIE STEVENS
Born Hampstead, London 1949
Moved to Cornwall 1995. Currently living in Truro, Cornwall UK