Meet the artist

Elsa Payton in her Studio

Photo by Emily Bass

elsa payton: wife, mom, painter

Elsa Payton (United States 1988) primarily paints acrylic portraits that spark emotional memory in the viewer and communicate common, yet, powerful human experiences. Elsa’s earliest and fondest memories include looking up at the big wooden easel that her dad built for her mom, and painting next to her. Painting has been a constant companion throughout all of life’s changes since painting with her mom as a child.  Through studying the works and writings of great artists’ such as Daniel Gerhartz, Richard Schmidt, Michelle Dunaway and Max Ginsburg, and reading about classical techniques, she has grown and adapted her chosen medium to create her own process.  

Mrs. Payton’s painting career began in earnest as she watched her youngest son sleep in his grandmother’s arms in 2022, and she could no longer resist capturing precious fleeting moments and committing them to canvas. She now offers portrait and fine art commissions, as well as art classes for children and adults in her local community. While she works in a variety of mediums, including acrylics, oils, watercolor and mixed media, she usually applies a limited four-color acrylic palette with minimal additional media, giving her the opportunity to study and create each color nuance as she works to bring out the living spark in her subjects. As she brings them to life, she falls in love with each unique personality being revealed. A portrait should not simply reproduce a likeness, but evolve it into a timeless work of art and a reason to reach into our emotional memory.

Mrs. Payton’s work has been juried into three local exhibitions through the Mobile Museum of Art in Mobile, Alabama, and garnered multiple awards and significant local recognition since 2023. Her work was recognized as a Finalist in Artist Magazine’s Acrylic Works 12: Best of Acrylics in 2025 and in the National Oil and Acrylic Painter’s Society Spring 2025 Online International Exhibition. Her painting was also awarded “Best Painting By An Associate Artist” in the the National Oil and Acrylic Society’s 2025 Best of America Small Works Show at Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. She currently lives, paints, and teaches art classes in Mobile, Alabama.