Elizabeth Briel, Travel Artist


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Studio Sicilia

Traveling Bookshelf in Sicily

Movana Chen just completed a 2-week residency at Studio Sicilia, and was working on her Traveling to Your Bookshelf Project. She's been knitting my paper book manuscript into part of a giant scarf she's been making for years, made of …

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Posted in Paper, Studio Sicilia | Leave a comment

Books into Art

There's a lot of controversy these days in the publishing industry. Traditional ways of publishing are no longer viable options: they involve killing lots of trees and shipping them around the world to bookstores. Pixels are a lot lighter, and …

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Posted in News, Paper, Studio Sicilia | Leave a comment

Studio Sicilia’s Finished!

  Blue windows shocked the neighbors last year ("Nobody paints their windows blue around here," they said) but they've grown to like them Studio Sicilia is finished!  Well, the upstairs is, anyway. After years of dreaming and saving and slogging away, …

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From Dusty Warehouse to Art Studio, Part 2

See Part 1 here Renovating a house is never easy, but the first time is always the hardest. You never know quite how excruciating things will be until you’ve thrown yourself in the midst of them – when it’s too …

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Posted in Italy, Studio, Studio Sicilia | 3 Comments

With a Lot of of Help from my Friends

Late last year I sent out an email to a few special people. It went something like this: “Hey Nearest and Dearest friends, “If you’ve got an adventurous spirit, some handy skills and 1-3 weeks free time from Feb-April 2011…I’m …

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Posted in Italy, Studio Sicilia | 1 Comment

Tetris with Tiles

“You should really put white tiles in the bathroom of your art studio,” friends said as I began to renovate a small dusty warehouse into a creative studio. “People love white tiles.” And they’re right. Many people really do like …

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Succulent Danger

Much like certain Chinese officials who have a penchant for tiger bits and shark fins, I’ve always liked to eat things that could kill or harm me – provided they’re not endangered, of course. Like sea urchins. A single step …

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Posted in Italy, Photos, Risking it All, Studio Sicilia, Travel | 4 Comments

An Uphill Battle

When I rented this house in the Sicilian town of Cianciana to renovate my art studio, people raved about the location: “You’re staying at the best place in town to see Jesus getting flogged on Good Friday!” they said. In the …

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Posted in Italy, Studio Sicilia, Travel | 5 Comments

Until the Paint is Gone

If you’re familiar with my artwork, it won’t surprise you I’m painting the doors and windows of my Sicilian studio a brilliant blue. — Each day I mix up a batch of paint or varnish for the doors, windows and …

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Posted in Italy, Studio, Studio Sicilia | 1 Comment

From Dusty Warehouse to Art Studio, Part 1

Studio Sicilia renovations February/March 2011 When I first saw this three-room "house" (small warehouse) on a Sicilian website, I scrolled through the photos of it for months. It became my phantom home, in a town I'd never seen, in a …

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Posted in Studio, Studio Sicilia | 5 Comments