Beauty & Mystery

Camellias blooming in Winter; Intricate patterns on Cypress balls dropped on the river shore; The feel of a pin scratching into wood window sills...These memories are my roots of living creatively.


Ellen Hathaway, daughter, wife, mother, is a southern abstract mixed media artist. She believe art is a practice of hospitality inviting artist and viewer to connect with spirit, self and one another.

I’m a daughter, wife, mother, and artist nurtured by generations of southern women, their lessons of hospitality - the nourishing of one another in body, mind, and heart. I practice hospitality by painting. Juxtaposing my personal visual language with the physicality of the paint to express the beauty and mystery sensed in life’s creative cycles. Endings flowing into new beginnings. 

In essence, painting is an act of  prayer. My works offer an open and generative space to connect with God, self, and one another. I invite you to see, feel, and just be with my paintings. 

“My lover said, ‘Arise my darling, my beautiful one; Come with me’"
Song of Solomon 2:11

One of Ellen's beautiful yellow paintings hangs above my fireplace, the focus of my room so I get to see it a lot. Yesterday, my imagination got lost in the painting,  reminding me of my old house and dog and people I know. It was an amazing experience.  

Sheila Loring, Collector, Oklahoma City, OK

Ellen Hathaway's intuitive and sure brushwork and expressive color combinations  are reminiscent of the art of the female abstract expressionists such as Joan Mitchell and Grace Hartigan.

Lyn Warren, Art Dealer, Owner Director, Les Yeux du Monde Gallery, Charlottesville, VA

We saw Ellen's painting on her website and felt it'd coordinate with a favorite painting in our family room. As well as an artist, Ellen's a designer. She inserted images of different paintings into a photo of our room to help us visualize. But our instincts were right! We selected the one that first spoke to us."

Ellia Manners, Collector

I grew up in Washington, a small town on the banks of the Pamlico River in Eastern North Carolina. No matter where you're raised, I believe we're all born in the image of our Creator, and imbued with imagination and desire to create. This universal call to live creatively is as unique as our fingerprints.

My mother fanned this flame giving me an art box filled with colorful paint. My father suggested pursuing art in college. They honored this calling before I, fearful my belief an arts education meant abandoning “my voice.” I received degrees in media production from UNC-CH and a Masters in Teaching from UVA’s Curry School. Leaving careers in broadcast sales and teaching kindergarten, I chose to stay home when our first daughter was born.  Life as expected. Then it changed.

Not an ending, but a new beginning.

My father died of cancer; two daughters were born within two years; I admitted I was powerless over the alcohol used to gloss bouts of depression and anxiety.  God’s love gave me hope, transforming what felt only like confusion into promise. This grace gives me the freedom to love, forgive, and create. It was during this season that my desire to draw and paint reawakened. I have nurtured my call with continual formal study with mentor Steven Aimone, community with trusted artists and most often asking myself, "Who is the artist?"