From an early age, drawing and painting children, pets and especially horses, brought me joy, first the challenge of capturing the image, but more than that bringing the personality of the individual subjects to life. I didn't realize it back then, but later a teacher told me I had a gift.

After I started doing commissioned portraits my joy became seeing the eyes of the person(s) who commissioned me when they saw their painting for the first time. Their obvious happiness made me happy ~ and it's probably got a lot to do with why I paint portraits in addition to the other subjects I paint.

Not all of my portrait subjects are living when I paint them. Some of my commissioned portrait work is of people and pets who had passed on without a really good image to remember them by.

Though painting from life - or my own photos - is best, the highest praise an artist can receive is being told the painting is more like the subject than the photos they gave me reference.

Consultations are free of course. I'm happy to meet with you via phone or in person to discuss the process and pricing. Please call the studio at (302) 539-3405 or write to me via the Contact page of this website. ~ Ellen

Below are a few examples of my portraits, mostly in oils, a few pastels or pencil:

"Every child begins the world again." ~ Henry David Thoreau​


​A few examples of Ellen's animal portraits
"We asked Ellen to paint a picture of our three dogs with our backyard setting.
It came out so lifelike that it looks like a photograph. Only better, because she captured their three separate personalities. We couldn't be happier. I highly recommend anyone who is thinking of getting a portrait
or any other painting done to get in touch with Ellen. She is amazing!" ~ R. Raab

A few other commissions
I work all of my commissions in with other paintings I'm just inspired to do, some with a specific purpose, some just because....