About the artist
Ellis, who was the eldest child of Charles and Marian Ryan, spent her childhood years in Victoria, in a family that held a deep interest in natural history, horticulture, and art. During her time in New Zealand, Ellis' husband, Frederic Charles Rowan, encouraged her to hone her skills as a painter, specializing in wildflowers.
She had a unique way of blurring the lines between natural history illustration and art. Her work usually had high standards, be it in art or in illustrating natural history. Ellis often depicted flowers, birds, and insects in their natural surroundings, all done in an impressionistic style.
Ellis was relentless in her work and was always on the hunt for new subjects. Her pursuit of new subjects sometimes led her to unreachable and dangerous places. She had to work under tough conditions in Western Australia and North Queensland, with New Guinea being even more challenging.
The Australian Government owns a large part of her Australian and New Guinea collections, and these are kept at the National Library in Canberra.
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