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Hobbs Elizabeth
Elizabeth Hobbs studied illustration to Master's level at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. After graduating in 1991, she began making books and writing her own texts, which led to her starting a small press, printing her own Artist's Books under the name Spellbound. In 1998 Elizabeth made two films in fuzzy felt, which led to her studying electronic imaging at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in Dundee, Scotland. While in Dundee she made The Last Regret of the Grim Reaper, a film in which the grim reaper dances everyone to their deaths and regrets it. In this animation Elizabeth sought to capture and animate a painted image under the rostrum camera while it was still wet, leaving a trace on the paper.
In 2000 Elizabeth was awarded an Arts Council of England/Channel 4 Animate! commission to make her 4-minute film The Emperor, an animation about Napoleon Bonaparte's last moments on the island of St. Helena, which inadvertently clears up the mystery of the despot's pickled private parts. In t making this film, she further developed her wet animation technique to incorporate watercolour. The Emperor was shown at many international film festivals and was awarded the second prize at the International Film Festival of Fine Arts in Szolnok, Hungary.
In 2001, The Witches was commissioned by Cineworks. This story of three North Berwick witches and their determination to avoid witch 'dooking' in the reign of King James VI of Scotland was written by Morag McKinnon and produced by Katja Anderson at Red Kite Animations in Edinburgh. The Witches premiered at Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2002, was shortlisted for The 10th Kodak Short Film Award and The Jim Poole Award and has been shown at many international film festivals.
Elizabeth is based in London, where she also makes short animated films with schools and community groups. It was in London that she wrote and developed The True Story of Sawney Beane, visiting the NFB in Montreal to undertake the animation and postproduction.
