Liz Maltman
Liz spent most of her summers in Fish Creek, Wi while growing up in Chicago, Ill. She went to college in upstate New York where she majored in art history and psychology and moved to Door County permanently about a year after graduation in 1974 where she worked at a variety of jobs including ski instructor, waitress, pre-school teacher, and shop keeper. In 1984, Liz purchased an old farmhouse in Fish Creek where she raised her son, Cyrus, now living in Madison, and continues to renovate the property. She and her partner Rick remodeled the original chicken coop and show their artwork in the space.
Liz has always loved art. One of her first jobs was managing the Hardy Gallery. She owned and managed a women's art-to-wear clothing store, The Magic Jacket, in the Top of the Hill shops in Fish Creek, for many years sewing clothes and hand painting them. This business evolved into decorative painting furniture, objects d'art, walls and interiors. Finally in 2004, Liz discovered landscape painting "en plein air", her first foray into fine art. She has always been a silent sports enthusiast and finds plein air painting perfectly complimentary to this type of lifestyle and paints outside whenever possible, working in both pastel and acrylic.
In July 2014, Liz will participate in her sixth Plein Air Festival at the Peninsula Art School. Also in July she is participating in the fifth annual Door Prize for Portraiture at Chez Cheryl on Plateau Road in Baileys Harbor. Also in July, she will participate in the Hardy Gallery's Collector's Showcase Exhibit. Liz has won awards for both her landscapes and portraits and continues to show in local and regional exhibits and shows. She has taught several classes in pastel painting at the Peninsula Art School, the Art Garage in Green Bay, and privately.
The late Door County art critic, Charlie Lyons, called Liz's work "a 21st century use of pastel". Her bright and innovative use of color, technique, and pattern express both her enthusiasm for the outdoors and her background in fabric and design. Liz has been hooked on plein air painting in acrylic and pastel for the past eight years, and has recently been enjoying teaching, especially beginners
