Artist profile — Elizabeth Harris

By Ant Perrucci

In the wake of the City of St. Augustine’s recent loss in court, artists and vendors have once again secured the right to sell their art in the Plaza de la Constitucion.

For Elizabeth Harris, one of the long-time fixtures in the Plaza, the legal victory presents her an opportunity to continue to do what she loves: Paint in the fresh air, in the shade of a tree, and talk to tourists.

“St. Augustine and Frida Kahlo,” Harris said of her inspirations. “That’s what I paint.”

Harris, a resident of St. Augustine since 1979, a 1983 graduate of Flagler College, a Spanish and art teacher at Pedro Menendez High School and an avid watercolor painter, sat for an interview recently in her home on Anastasia Island. Flanked by her pets, a massive black Newfoundland named Bear and a Maine Coon named Don Gato, Harris opened up about her art, the legal fight with the city, and the perils of watercolors.

“There aren’t many of us out there,” Harris said of her fellow artists. “It’s not easy. I’ve been out there for years. I’ve seen so many [other artists] come and go.”

“People ask me, ‘Why don’t you sell in [a] gallery?’” Harris continued. It’s because, she said, of the personal contact she gets from the other artists and the tourists she encounters.

“I really have enjoyed it,” Harris said. “It’s a lot of fun for me.”

She said that her main interest is not in selling the art she produces, but she doesn’t have a problem with it, either.

“It’s the process I enjoy,” she said, “not the product. I can let [the art] go.”

“I do it because I like to do it,” she said. “Nothing profound.”

The art Harris produces is nearly exclusively watercolor, with occasional pen and ink embellishments.

“I’m sure I’ll switch to oil [eventually],” Harris shrugged. “If you can watercolor, you can paint anything. That’s what they tell me.”

Harris, who is partly of Mexican descent through her grandmother, said that her “obsession” with the Spanish-speaking world helps to serve as a benefit to her art.

“I love painting here,” she said, “because of the Spanish influence. The reds, I love the tiles [on buildings.]”

Architecture, though, is not her only love. Harris has painted a large series of portraits of Kahlo, the famed Mexican artist.

“It’s not that I relate to her as a person,” Harris said, “but I think she’s neat.”

Harris said that her students have enjoyed following the recent legal battles between the city and artists.

“They think that’s funny,” Harris said. “They think that’s just the wildest thing ever.”

At present, however, Harris said that she is content to teach, to paint and to enjoy her time in St. Augustine.

“I’m so grounded here, I can’t imagine myself moving,” Harris said. “Every time I leave, I miss it so badly.”