Elaine Silverman Sturm lives in Toronto, Ontario, but is originally from Montreal, Quebec. 

Her talent and insight for seeing things in a slightly different way than most grew out of her parents' support for her to draw what she felt or what she saw at a very early age.  A little muralist in the making, her need to draw was so strong that the walls were her canvas, until her parents encouraged her to use the paper and pencils they got for her instead.

Her talent is natural and her love for art pushed her to direct and enhance her skills on her own, finding her niche in portraiture and interesting scenes which almost always include people.  Contemporary situations and everyday happenings are just simple fodder to be made into timeless moments by expressing them through her artist's eye.  She especially delights in drawing children because of their sheer innocence and animation, which always tells an honest story. 

As an observer of people, Elaine finds that each person she encounters possesses an endless source of unique characteristics and interest from which to find beauty. Besides portraying the evident facial features, she delves beneath the surface to connect with and include the spirit. 

Her motivation is inspired by the narrative of everyday situations, which can look magical in the eye of the beholder, when recreated in paint or charcoal. Her media of choice in drawing materials ranges from graphite to coloured pencil and charcoal, while for painting, her materials are soft pastels and oils. Her style is realism.

Although she enjoys the spontaneity and instant pleasure of working from life whenever possible, photography is also an avid interest of hers and you can often catch her snapping pictures of interesting locations and people she finds fascinating for future art projects, from as far away as the canals in Amsterdam, to the cathedral architecture of Italy, to the market places and cafe scenes in her own local Toronto.  For Elaine, there is a story in every picture and a painting from which to showcase it.

As a self-taught artist, Elaine pursued her love for art by going to local workshops as a young adult, knowing she always had an artist's soul living inside her and just waiting to emerge. She has been able to apply techniques she acquired from her extensive library of art books from the many famous museums around the world, and also from gratefully listening to the constructive advice of respected artists she has met along her path.

Besides being showcased in many different kinds of venues, Elaine was an active participant in The Annual Thyroid Foundation Art Show in Montreal since 2003 and has donated several artworks for auction and charity. Her oil painting of the renowned and respected author, and Dean of the Law School of York University, Toronto, Peter Hogg, was painted upon his retirement and now hangs in Osgoode Hall at the University. 

Through word of mouth, contacts from her art shows, Facebook networking and time spent in Florida each year, she has been commissioned to do many family portraits. Even when photographs are the only visual she has to work from, she successfully manages to bring out the essence of the person. The scenes, portraits and figure paintings of people she has made over the years, both living and posthumously, are in many collections and homes all around the world. 

She is an honorary member of the Drawing Society of Canada, and she has been a member of the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada (PSEC), accepted into their prestigious juried Art Exhibit at Ogilvy's, in Montreal. She is a current member of the Forest Hill Art Club and she is presently in the act of joining more Art Societies. 

"Talent is a gift from God. He gives us the passion and we honour Him by working hard and passing on the gift through our art." 

Elaine feels that if she can use her God-given gift to spread a little happiness and love into someone's life by way of her paintings, then she has used her ability wisely and graciously.

Quotation by Pierre Bonnard

"I think that when one is young it is the object, the outside world that fires one's enthusiasm; one is carried away by it.  In later life, it's something within himself, the need to express an emotion that leads a painter to choose his point of departure, one form rather than another."