Elizabeth Eaton Rosenthal, also known as Elizabeth Sweetheart, was born in Nova Scotia in 1941. She is a fine artist, fabric designer and is well known as the "Green Lady of Brooklyn" for her love of the color green, which she wears and decorates her home with nearly exclusively.
Early life
Elizabeth Eaton was born in a small manufacturing town, Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada. She was greatly influenced by her grandparents, who lived with her mother while her father, Dr. Robert Burrell Eaton, served as a field surgeon during the Second World War. She spent many summers with her grandfather at his log cabin on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Her grandmother taught Elizabeth to paint and to make clothing.
She attended Mount Allison University where she studied fine arts with the renowned Canadian painter Alex Colville.
Career
Not able to find appropriate work in Canada, Eaton hitchhiked to New York City in 1964. Arriving at the New York Unemployment Agency with only a pillow and her sketchbook, she was immediately sent for a job interview. She got a job working in an art department in the Garment Center.
In 1987 Eaton established her own design company, SweetPea Design Studio, which she ran for 15 years. She then ran a small art business in which she focused on expanding and selling fabrics from her well-stocked collection of vintage design fabrics.
Eaton is a fine artist. In addition to creating hand-painted prints for top clothing designers such as Michael Kors, Liz Claiborne, Calvin Klein, American Eagle Outfitters and Ralph Lauren, she makes tiny watercolor paintings.
Style
Known as the "Green Lady of Brooklyn," Eaton always wears green and decorates her home in various shades of green. She has donned green, from head to toe, including bright lime green hair, since about 2000. She is usually seen wearing overalls, and has about 30 pairs, all dyed green.
Personal life
Eaton married Robert Rosenthal, also an artist, in 1966 or 1967. They have one son, Sam Eaton, who is a mentalist.
References
- ^ McAfee, Tierney (24 July 2011). "Who's That (Green) Lady?". Carroll Gardens Patch. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ Kilgannon, Corey (4 December 2015). "The Green Lady of Brooklyn". New York Times. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
- ^ Goddard, Joanna (18 February 2008). "One Is the Loveliest Color". New York Magazine. Retrieved 10 December 2015.