BIOGRAPHY Elena Madden, a South Carolina native, says she feels most alive on the water – an environment abundant in the low country she calls home. Water has been an influential and integral part of her life since early childhood, and she considers it to be her biggest inspiration. Madden practices the eastern philosophy of painting from memory and interpreting what is seen. This technique was enhanced by her education at Savannah College of Art and Design where she received her B.F.A. in 1993. Madden went on to win the prestigious Best of Show Award at the 2000 Savannah's Telfair Art Fair. Madden has since compiled an extensive portfolio of collections to include Duke University, Alltel Stadium's Terrace Restaurant, the Jacksonville Port Authority, SAS Institute, the Columbia Convention Center, Bellsouth, JW Marriott Hotels in Minneapolis, MN and Newport Beach, CA, Liberty Property Trust, and The Tennessee Valley Authority. "Water is ever changing, I feel like I could paint it forever." ARTIST STATEMENT "Water changes constantly based on the seasons, the time of day and the weather patterns. I study this evolution in color and ‘light play'. My resulting paintings come from these movements of reflection and the memories they stirred."