" The
southern mountains inspire much of my work . I've attempted to place
the birds in their natural habitat as well as play around with the
idea of color; that is, how colors in the natural world are sometimes
reflected in those of the birds found there. As an artist who loves
color, this provided me with another chance to share with my audience
how harmonious the natural world is. And how in our response to
this beauty, we should attempt to be in harmony with it ourselves.”
Having exhibited
and sold widely throughout the United States for more than 30 years,
Ellison gives
private lessons for beginning or advanced watercolorists in her studio. She also
teaches week-long workshops at various institutions, such as the
Appalachian Center for Crafts (Smithville, Tennessee) and the North
Carolina Arboretum (Asheville, NC). Utilizing both
traditional and oriental techniques - and sometimes employing American
Indian motifs - Ellison depicts the varied wildflowers, animals, human
inhabitants, and landscapes of the Smokies region and beyond. This
work led to the inclusion of Elizabeth Ellison Watercolors in
Fodor's Guide to the National Parks
and Seashores of the East (1994).
Her pen-&-ink drawings and
watercolor washes long have illustrated the work of her husband,
writer/naturalist George Ellison,
as well as others. Publishing venues include the
Asheville Citizen-Times,
Blue Ridge
Outdoors, Outdoor Traveler, Friends of Wildlife: The Journal of the
North Carolina Wildlife Federation, High Vistas,
and Chinquapin: The Newsletter of
the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Ellison frequently
gathers and processes native Appalachian plants to make handmade
papers. She has used black willow, mulberry, cattail, papyrus, rush,
iris, wisteria, yucca, raspberry, blackberry, and more.
For the past seven
years she has been cover artist for Niche Gardens of Chapel Hill, NC,
an award-winning nursery specializing in the propagation of native
plants.
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