Biography

Ellen Burke has been heavily influenced by American Musical Theatre, Irish Catholicism, and the essence of the elements.

The eldest daughter of a large rambunctious family, Burke moved often throughout childhood and adolescence, living in major cities in the Northeast and the Midwest. At the age of twenty, she spent a year on the road in Europe, discovering the masterworks. She returned to complete her B.A. from Wellesley College with a focus on sculpture. Burke studied drawing and oil painting with Jim Gahagan at Goddard College, discovering the vision of post abstract expressionism, and the liberation of living in the paint.

Moving to the Northwest, she was introduced to sumi ink and paint, gouache and watercolors. A subsequent move to Arizona brought about an immersion in desert light. All of those influences are seen in her work in both the oil and water mediums.Burke was represented by Rosequist Galleries in Tucson, Arizona from 1985 to 2000. She has also exhibited at Galerie Saver in Paris and Studio 66 in Seattle.

She is married to playwright Peter Van Slyke, with whom she has a daughter, Tarreyn.