Coffee with the Authors: Ellie Harold

Frankfort painter Ellie Harold traveled to Paris in 2022 to view an exhibition of paintings by Impressionist Claude Monet and Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell. The souvenirs from that trip weren’t T-shirts and tote bags, but questions, including: What does it mean to be a “real” artist? Harold explores that question in the resulting book, Monet, Mitchell & Me: A Painter’s Pilgrimage. She talks about how she answered that question at the September 29 Coffee With The Authors conversation, 1 pm at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. Harold’s book is a meditation about her struggles with creative block, about practice, process, and why she’d rather make work than look at it in a museum. Monet, Mitchell & Me is the story of Harold’s journey into the valley of art historical giants, and the side trips into the interior of her own, artistic country.