On display May 27 – September 4, 2017, from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily, inside the Baker Exhibit Center, Spirit of Place features the artwork of painter and papermaker Elizabeth Ellison.
Ellison has exhibited and sold widely throughout the United States for more than 30 years; and often teaches week-long workshops at various institutions, including The North Carolina Arboretum. Utilizing both traditional and oriental techniques – and often employing American Indian motifs – Ellison depicts the varied wildflowers, animals, human inhabitants and landscapes of the Smokies region and beyond. Ellison frequently gathers and processes native Appalachian plants to make the handmade papers she incorporates into her paintings. She uses black willow, mulberry, cattail, papyrus, rush, iris, wisteria, yucca, raspberry, blackberry and more. The exceptional quality and individuality of Elizabeth Ellison’s works led to her inclusion in Fodor’s Guide to the National Parks and Seashores of the East (1994).
Ellison is the owner and operator of Elizabeth Ellison Gallery, a studio/gallery located in the old Clampitt Hardware Building on the town square in Bryson City, North Carolina, where she and her family have resided since the early 1970s. A native of Milton, N.C., Ellison is of Occaneechi Indian descent.
Exhibit support provided in part by Smoky Mountain Living Magazine.