TERESA ELLIOTT

About this artist

Teresa Elliott is an American realist painter currently residing and working in her desert studio north of Big Bend National Park in Alpine, Texas. Today, she is best known for her portraits of bovines and figurative paintings that immerse themselves in the natural rural environment of the Southwest.

Her family of origin settled in Texas in the 1800s, operating a farm with Angus cattle and pecan orchards. A fascination with livestock and the Texas countryside colored her world then and continues to inspire her fine art today. Yearly family vacations to the farm from her home in the Midwest kept her interested in the gritty lifestyle of farm life, influencing her work to this day.

After completing a Fine Art BFA from the University of Kansas, she moved to Dallas, Texas, and worked as a self-employed graphic designer and illustrator. Many years as an illustrator prepared her for her true calling as a fine art painter, especially after discovering the Texas Longhorn with all its colorful attributes, living near her home in suburban North Texas. In 2006, she had a sold-out gallery show in Ft. Worth, Texas, which launched her career and enabled her to devote every day to her studio practice.

Her studio in the hills of the Big Bend region of West Texas sits on a bed of ancient lava rock overlooking a vast old ranch. The wandering javelina, deer, and turkey are frequent visitors to her studio, reminding her of her favorite quote from John Muir, “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it connected to the rest of the world.” – Teresa Elliott