Elaine O’Neil

For textile collage artist Elaine O’Neil, life is a collection of experiences that inspires her the way that breathing new life into found fabrics does.
Elaine’s self-proclaimed “idyllic childhood,” her love for her ancestors, and her desires to serve the simple joys in life are key elements of her art which focuses equally on personal narrative and local culture. Growing up on the family farm in rural Maine, Elaine’s fondest memories were learning to sew with her mother, a home economics teacher, and her beloved grandmother, the daughter of a lighthouse keeper in Maine. Today, this nostalgia is indeed its own lighthouse, keeping Elaine steadfast in her medium and constantly guiding her toward the heart of the stories she wants to tell.
Elaine received a BA in Textile Designs from the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Her work has been exhibited and collected
throughout the country, especially important to Elaine are those held in hospitals and universities. She has illustrated several children’s books, teaches workshops, and has a line of stationery products. Elaine divides her time living half the year in Maine, and half the year in North Carolina with her husband Glenn and their dog Chico.
