Mary Ellen became fascinated with botanical painting while living and working in the Galapagos Islands as a naturalist guide for the Ecuadorian National Park.
She felt privileged to observe the difficulty of arrival and establishment in the archipelago and hence, the evolution into different forms through isolation. “Portraying the beauty of plants in watercolour is my small way of paying homage to these remarkable survivors in nature”.
Born in New York, Mary Ellen worked as a graphic artist and then in adventure tourism, which led her to settle and work in Ecuador and Peru.
She left her home in the Andes Mountains after 21 years and moved to Battersea, London to pursue Botanical Painting at The English Gardening School nearly 5 years ago.
Mary Ellen has sold her work internationally and has been actively involved with The Galapagos Conservation Trust, providing her artwork for Endangered Flora fundraising events.
In February 2008, Mary Ellen is travelling to the Galapagos to paint a commemorative series of habitat relating to the six most endangered birds in the islands. It is her hope that these works will raise awareness in the public eye for this critical situation and will tie in with the 2009 Charles Darwin 200th Anniversary celebrating this extraordinary man’s life.
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