Editor’s note: George Ellison, a renowned naturalist and writer who lived in Bryson City, passed away on Sunday, Feb. 19. Below is a tribute to Ellison by Don Hendershot. Ellison wrote hundreds of columns for The Smoky Mountain News, which can be read by searching our archives at smokymountainnews.com.

The last private property that Lands Creek crosses before entering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Tuckasegee River is now conserved, thanks to Swain County residents George and Elizabeth Ellison.

Elizabeth Ellison will do a watercolor demonstration at The Blueridge Water Media Society’s monthly meeting, held at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 10, at Haywood Community College, Building 14.

Ellison will demonstrate her loose expressive watercolor technique that depicts the varied wildflowers, animals, human inhabitants, and landscapes of the Smokies.  

The exceptional quality and individuality of Elizabeth Ellison’s works led to her inclusion in the 1994 Fodor’s Guide to the National Parks and Seashores of the East.

Ellison is a painter, paper maker and owner of Elizabeth Ellison Watercolors, a studio and gallery in Bryson City.

She has exhibited and sold widely throughout the United States for more than 30 years and often teaches week-long workshops at various institutions, such as the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.