About the Artist

Years back, a friend decided to do a 30-day paint challenge on Facebook. Being incredibly stressed at work, I asked if she would mind if I joined her. It flipped a switch in my brain as I poured my daily stress and frustrations into a painting. In that month, I only missed one day! I awakened the sleeping artist inside me. I kept on painting after the challenge was over, soon creating portraits, first for fun, and soon for commissions. 

Working as a graphic artist for years, it never occurred to me to paint in my free time, be it ever so small, with three children. My dad was an engineer and a watercolor artist and my mother, a landscape designer. They taught me the ins and outs of lettering and tight, precise design. I worked in type development at several companies, and learned calligraphy and lettering design mentored by renowned type designers. That led to magazine design and production for the majority of my graphic arts career. But moving to a new state and volunteering to help create the Hepatitis Education Project in Seattle indirectly lead me to a career at Seattle Children’s Hospital until retiring. Now I paint.

I love painting portraits and I am available for commissions. My style concentrates on the whole picture, the background, foreground, and other surrounding items. To me, this can be important in creating a picture with a story behind it, rather than a sitting portrait. I prefer people in a natural environment and dramatic light and angles intrigue me! Please note that images you see are shown in rectangular format, but upon clicking on them, you’ll see the whole image, you can then scroll through the images in their full format by the arrow buttons.

Hope you enjoy looking at my work! Feel free to contact me on the last page! Ellen