About The Artist

BIOGRAPHY
Elvin J. Griffin was born in 1949 in Waukegan Illinois. He married Becky in 1974. They own a machine shop which is now being run by their son, Jeff. Elvin has always been interested in art and spent many years drawing in pen & ink with a surrealistic style. Around 1980 He began searching for a media that would take him beyond black and white. Since Rembrandt and Carravaggio were his favorite influences, oil was the obvious choice. Elvin says that “discovering color was like being a born again artist.”

Along with the discovery of oil as a medium came pastels and new subject matters.  Over the years, Elvin painted many still lifes and landscapes in both medias. These were popular at local art shows. However in Chicago galleries, realistic traditional art is a hard sell. Business sense said "go abstract." The heart says "Paint traditional." One solution might have been to move to Boston, where traditional realistic art flourishes. After becoming proficient in almost every style and subject matter, the search for artistic fulfillment came to rest when he realized the real passion of mind and heart was to paint portraits! Each person has been uniquely created by God with their own personality. What more could an artist achieve than to capture that personality on canvas!

Elvin still lives in Waukegan. He shares his basement art studio with his lovely wife Becky, who is a potter. Every day is a new adventure. Every creation is a blessing.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Elvin James Griffin is a self taught artist. All of his formal education applies only to business and industry. His artistic background is attributed to reading, research, workshops, art demos, and direct contact with other professional artists. This background is combined with thousands of hours of intense drawing and painting, and the passion, motivation, drive and desire to be an artist.

Elvin is a member of the Portrait Society of America and art leagues in Illinois and Wisconsin. He has served on the board of Art Leagues. He has judged and juried art shows, gives demos and workshops and teaches. Elvin has taught pastel classes for the University of Wisconsin Parkside and at Stirling Hall, for the Lake Forest Park District . The workshops and demonstrations are given through local galleries, museums, park districts and art leagues.

Present galleries include The Leigh gallery in Chicago Illinois and Charlene’s Gallery Ten in Door County, Wisconsin. Past galleries include The Wildwood Gallery in Lockport, Illinois, The Bensen Gallery in Arlington Heights, Illinois, The Firehouse Fine Art Gallery in Crystal Lake Illinois, The Nippersink Gallery in Richmond, Illinois, The AFAF Gallery in Antioch Illinois, and The Lemon Street Gallery in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
“Geranimo didn’t learn about life at Harvard, and Hound Dog Taylor didn’t learn how to play the Blues with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. I don’t have a long list of college art degrees, but I have experienced life. My passion is my art. My goal is to express myself on canvas without words.  "When you see an oil portrait, I want you to say ‘I know that person.’ ”