Eleanor Trabaudo

Eleanor was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, and went to nursing school. She married a military doctor and traveled the next 20+ years dedicating her life to family, child raising, reading, learning, and writing. The intensity and passion of those experiences gave way to her art.

 Eleanor moved with her family to New Mexico in 1974 where, as she finished raising her family, she found inspiration and opportunity to study and pursue art. She studied with and was influenced by Helen Frankenthaler, Nancy Graves, Eric Renner, Holly Roberts, Molly White, Miles Conrad, and Ellen Koment. She studied art at Navajo Community College, Ft. Lewis College, San Juan College, and at Mesaland Community College, where she participated in several of the Iron Pours. All the while, she worked the early gig economy as a museum docent, a spirit bag maker, a jewelry shop worker, and a substitute teacher. Eleanor worked with pastels, printmaking (from wood cuts to Lino blocks), encaustics, oils, collage, and watercolors. She experimented with sculpture often combining several mediums: cardboard boxes, encaustic wax, Paper-mâché, and various found objects. She silk screened “Save the Bisti” t-shirts, did wood cuts for theater openings, made posters for the balloon fiesta, and crushed boxes at the iron pour.

 She always felt passionate about her art and the art of her friends (and everyone was her friend). She was a proud member of many art organizations and she owned a gallery for a short while where she promoted the work of local artists as well as that of her friends. She sought out shows for herself and always supported those of others. She loved land art and participated with her friends in creating labyrinths, which she walked with great deliberation. 

She loved hiking and was part of an early CABQ senior hiking group. She also had a small group of friends who did regular hikes and yearly trips to outdoor destinations. Other friends took her on day trips, cookouts, and art adventures. She hiked with family and with friends. She traveled to Maine with her dear friend Sally and went to Iceland with Kate.

 In the last four years of her life, Eleanor was in assisted living facilities. While Eleanor sometimes felt the sting of the confinement and perfected the middle finger salute, at the same time she lived happily, befriending residents as well as staff, enjoying new friends and experiences: music, chair yoga, reading, and an occasional lunch out. Staff and residents sang with her, laughed with her, wept with her, loved with her, and enjoyed her new life with her.

 Eleanor always said that she had a wonderful life, and she recognized what a privilege that was. She often tried to inspire and support others so they could feel fulfilled, too. She loved her children and her grandchildren dearly and while her life wasn’t perfect, a good life to Eleanor was the life that she lived: a life filled with love, music, art, laughter, friends, food, and family. H. Eleanor Trabaudo was preceded in death by her husband, Lawrence Edward Trabaudo, Sr., who passed 7/09/2000 (the same day as she) 24 years earlier. She is survived by her younger sister, Margaret Elizabeth Papsch; her son Lawrence Edward Trabaudo, Jr. and his partner Lillie; her daughters Elena Trabaudo; Alice Trabaudo and her wife Jamie Searcy; Lisa Trabaudo and her husband Kim Murray; Ann Trabaudo; and Laura Combs. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Lawrence Trabaudo III, Clayton Trabaudo, Billy Trabaudo, Nate Combs, Casey Combs and her great grandchildren: Lawrence IV, Abigail, Dayona, and Maya. And she has a world of wonderful friends. 

An art show and celebration of Eleanor will be held on Sunday, August 25, 2025 from 2-5 pm at the Harwood Art Center 1114 7th Street NW, Albuquerque, NM at Mountain Road. (Abundant parking on southside.) Please come and see Eleanor’s art and celebrate her with us.