Ellie Ling

Biography

When I was eight years old, I read 'The Secret Garden' by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and was introduced to the delights of the hidden enclosed garden. About the same time that I was reading 'The Secret Garden', I asked my parents to buy me my first artist's-quality watercolour box. Soon afterwards, we went to live in South-East Asia where we encountered a wide range of cultural influences. This transformed my awareness of colour and accounts for my great love of the subtly glowing jewel-like colours of Indian and Persian painting. Like Paul Klee, improvising on the keyboard of his watercolour box during his trip to Tunisia, I learnt to play with colour, and am still doing so. I studied art in Leeds and Hereford (where I graduated with a First Class Honours degree in Illustration). And then, on holiday in Cornwall, I came by chance across the beautiful book 'Gardens of the Imagination', illustrated by Peter Malone. Years after reading 'The Secret Garden', 'Gardens of the Imagination' re-opened my eyes to the garden as a motif and a vehicle for symbolic meaning. I was hooked, and have painted nothing but gardens, part real, part imaginary, ever since. My paintings are published as greetings cards and available as cards through my website and at selected retail outlets. My paintings are also available through my website as Limited Edition giclee prints. You can also buy my Limited Edition giclee prints at Oriel CRiC, Crickhowell. My work has been included in Open Exhibitions at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal West Of England Academy, and at other venues in Herefordshire, Powys, Broadway, and Hay-on-Wye.