Elizabeth R. Whelan is a UK-born artist, currently based in Nova Scotia. She was raised in Ottawa, Canada and completed her education in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She specializes in portraiture, as well as painting marine and botanical subject matter. Her work explores coastal communities and their surrounding landscape.

Elizabeth began her art training as a screen print illustrator, then acquired graphic design and marketing skills and in 2000, she started her own freelance business.

Around this time she also moved aboard a sailboat, which gave her a unique perspective on coastal life that would influence her outlook for years to come. The sailing life took her up the coast to St. Michaels, Maryland, and then on to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where her freelance business flourished.

In 2010, Whelan decided to pivot from the commercial arts. Learning the fundamentals of portraiture from renowned painter Daniel Greene, she continued to paint independently, depicting boatbuilders and other unique individuals she met during her travels.

For the next seven years, Whelan and her partner lived off the grid on a remote private island, managing the island’s farm, cattle, machinery, and boats. Between chores, she painted in the unheated attic of an ancient workshop. Visiting clients meant crossing the bay in an old but sturdy workboat.

In 2014, Whelan travelled to New York City for a workshop with acclaimed artist Burton Silverman, who introduced her to new ways of thinking about art and the artist’s role. She left with renewed confidence in her ability to find her voice, drawing on the experiences and techniques of artists past and present.

By 2017, her painting business had grown and required undivided attention. She moved back to Martha’s Vineyard, setting up a studio on Chappaquiddick Island, and over the next several years completed commissions for private and public individuals and institutions across the US while also painting bodies of work on marine and botanical themes. In 2020, Elizabeth began offering online classes in drawing, painting, and the business of art, and delights in sharing her skills with others.

New adventures beckoned, and Elizabeth can now be found working from a studio in Middle LaHave, Nova Scotia, Canada. In 2025, she became an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists and, after discovering the joy of plein air painting, participated in the 2025 and 2026 Parrsboro International Plein Air Festivals. She has found great inspiration in the beauty of the Atlantic provinces and the many stories waiting to be told in paint.

To commission a portrait or painting or to enquire about purchasing a painting, please get in touch with Elizabeth R. Whelan at erwhelan@gmail.com or call 902.514.4452

Member: Society of Canadian Artists (elected member), American Society of Marine Artists, American Society of Botanical Artists,Federation of Canadian Artists, Lunenburg Art Gallery Society, Visual Artists of Nova Scotia

ARTIST STATEMENT

Two basic concepts drive my artistic practice. I most enjoy highlighting the warmth of human stories. And I am fascinated by the connections between the living and the inanimate, both in our daily interactions and on a sub-atomic level. I paint with a science-based view, caring about facts and details, and seeing the world as a seamless whole.

My easel is temporary home to a constantly changing panorama of fascinating portrait subjects and outdoor scenes thatpull from my daily experiencesinteracting with coastal communities and the quiet wilderness. I anchor my paintings in solid composition and design, incorporating visual action and a narrative approach while bringing out the subject’s character in paint.

Ipaintto record the stories, spoken and implied, that live in the spacesbetween humans, their creations, and the larger natural world.

-- Elizabeth R. Whelan