Elsa Payton

Elsa Payton (United States 1988) primarily paints representational acrylic and oil pieces that spark emotional memory and communicate common, powerful human experiences. Though she never attended formal art training, painting has been a constant companion since she was a child as she painted along with her mother. Through self-guided study of the works and writings of historical and living masters and attending many webinars and workshops, she has grown significantly as a painter, painting both commissioned portraits and studio pieces inspired by the world around her.  Mrs. Payton’s career as a working artist began in earnest in 2022 after ending her military career and beginning motherhood. She usually applies a limited palette with minimal additional media, allowing her to create each color nuance as she works in a series of layers. Each painting is an exploration – an intellectual pursuit as much as a creative one.

Mrs. Payton’s work has been included at four juried exhibitions through the Mobile Museum of Art (MMoA) and garnered significant local recognition since 2023. Her work was recognized in Artist’s Magazine’s Acrylic Works 12: Best of Acrylics (2025), and earned “Best Painting by an Associate Artist” in the National Oil and Acrylic Society’s (NOAPS) 2025 Best of America Small Works Show at Eisele Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her work has also been exhibited at the NOAPS 2025 Best of America International Exhibition in Indianapolis, online in multiple international exhibitions (Allied Artists of America, NOAPS, International Guild of Realism), and earned semi-finalist in the Art Renewal Center 18th International ARC Salon. She currently paints and teaches art classes in Mobile, Alabama privately and through MMoA.