Artists of Note | Ellen Fuller

Mindful art

Ellen Fuller, Bighorn Sheep, acrylic, 48 x 60.

This story was featured in the August 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art August 2015 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!

Through meticulous detail,  acrylic painter Ellen (Ellie) Fuller  brings her subjects to life. Her highly realistic paintings take months to complete, but it’s her attention to the subtleties in each subject that defines her works. She credits her extraordinary patience to her qigong, tai chi, and meditation practices, which give her the discipline and focus to complete such laborious tasks. “I teach qigong, and I do meditation and martial arts, so for me, [painting] is an extension of that, it’s a deep meditation,” she says. “I love detail, and that’s how I see life. I don’t see it abstractly, I see life very realistically.”

Fuller grew up in a creative family in Long Island—her mother painted, her sister was a photographer, and both her father and her brother played the violin. She earned her art education degree from the Philadelphia College of Art in 1967 but spent the next 20  years working in etching, as an assistant to a graphic designer, and even with stained glass and animation. It was when she moved to Santa Fe in the early 1990s that her painting took full form. Her first efforts were portraits of Native American children, and later she focused on her love of nature and the continual inspiration of her new home. “I live in the most beautiful places, and there’s so much to be inspired by,” she says. “I’ll paint trees, birds, animals, water—whatever it is that really excites me at the moment is what I want to paint.” —Joe Kovack

Fuller’s work can be seen at www.ellenfuller.com.

Featured in the August 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art August 2015 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!