Portrait of a Young Artist Couple

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At home in Chevy Chase with artists Clint Colburn and Erin Eldred

For artists and young Lexington couple Erin Eldred and Clint Colburn, deciding to live together meant being willing to work side by side under a single roof.

The pair, who have called Lexington home for 15 years, live in a turn-of-the-century apartment building on Fontaine Road. Art permeates every aspect of their lives, with their home doubling as a studio that prioritizes artistic production. Brimming with natural light, a central room between the living room and kitchen – which many tenants would probably use as a dining room – houses two studio tables, an easel, several looms and other supplies.

The overall space is small, but the couple characterizes the dilemma as a fun problem to solve.

“When we’re working on our projects at home and we feel things get stagnant, we just move things around to get the right feel,” said Colburn, a painter, sculptor and collage artist. He and Eldred, whose primary medium is textiles, routinely shuffle things around to maximize floor and wall space, reinventing their work atmosphere and making it feel more fresh.

“Sometimes we make a game out of it,” he added.

The couple met through mutual friends and began spending time together while working at Third Street Stuff on North Limestone. Though their work and processes are starkly different, they maintain an environment that feeds both of their needs by facilitating new energy, encouragement and inspiration.

An alumna of University of Kentucky’s College of Fine Arts and former student of revered textile artist Arturo Sandoval, Eldred elevates weaving – a traditional craft with a rich history in the South – to a fine art, producing works that are intellectually and emotionally engaging. She uses various techniques and instruments to produce stunning, iridescent designs that are meant to engender positive feelings.

“I think more about form, shape, design and line rather than the concepts behind my pieces,” Eldred said. “I want to produce art that people want to live with.”

Colburn uses painting, drawing, sculpture and collage, all saturated with emotion, to explore issues of the subconscious. Describing his time in the studio as “an energy transference” where he acts as a vessel of communication, Colburn gained a level of notoriety in recent years with his work featured on album covers by the Bowling Green, Kentucky-based rock band Cage the Elephant, which has risen to international success.

Colburn’s process is large-scale, intense and energetic, and usually involves working on several pieces at a time. He regularly edits past works, cutting out strips or sections to be added to new pieces, with his assemblages ultimately redolent of many works of the early European Modernists, such as Matisse, Dali and Picasso.

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Conversely, Eldred works calmly and contemplatively on one piece at a time, normally in a small space. She chooses fabrics of varying thickness and color that are both visually stimulating and soothing, allowing her intuition to guide her creative decision-making process.

Through these contrasting approaches, they encourage each other to consider various ways of engaging in art, and push one another to become better artists.

“My feeling being in the same room as Erin when she’s working ... is very calming, meditative, and I think that feeling or energy is really complementary to the way that I work,” Colburn said.

Uniting both their work is a mutual desire to develop a visual language through color, texture and pattern. Both artists are keenly aware of how color, and the juxtaposition of colors, can have a wide range of effects on individuals; in many ways, this awareness is the driving force behind their work. They both have a strong desire for their art to be soothing, therapeutic and facilitate reflection.

“I want viewers to experience an introspective journey when reading my art,” Colburn said. cc

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