Ellen Elmes has thrived on watercolor and mural painting as her vehicle of self-expression for over fifty years, ever grateful for creative journeys with her husband Don and for the inspiration of their homeplace in the Appalachian Mountains. Her most recent acclaimed watercolor show was a 6-month retrospective exhibit, “Music and Mountains,” featured at the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, VA. Her outdoor murals can be seen in many Mid-Atlantic states, but in the last eight years, she and Don have worked closer to home on community murals, most recently, on a Bluefield WV mural: “Celebrating Bluefield’s 20th Century African American Beloved Community.” Ellen is an experienced community college and Common Ground teacher. Her book, Appalachian Labyrinth: Painting to the Center, is a memoir of her journey as a rural artist. More information about Ellen’s work is available on her website