"Self-Portrait, In Blue," 2003, pastel on pumice board, 35 3/4 x 16 5/8 inches
“My paintings evolve slowly, contemplatively. When I am painting a portrait from life, the subject and situation which are most compelling to me, I like to work in near silence. I like my model to almost forget I am there. Inevitably, during the course of the sittings, as the model drifts in thought, he or she experiences emotions both deeply felt and lighthearted. I respond to the body’s subtle expression of those emotions.”
_Ellen Eagle
Ellen Eagle is a New York artist whose intimate portraits, done in pastel on pumice board, have the sensitivity and depth of oil paintings. She began her studies at the California College of Arts and Crafts before moving to the East Coast to continue at the National Academy and The Art Students League in New York.
Ellen Eagle was included in the biannual juried exhibition at the National Academy of Design Museum in New York and joined Forum Gallery by invitation shortly thereafter in 2002. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Frye Art Museum, Seattle (WA), Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo (NY), Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown (OH) and the New Jersey State Museum (Trenton). She is the recipient of several awards including the Edward R. Mooney Traveling Scholarship, the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, the Phyllis Mason Grant and a full residency scholarship at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson (VT).
Ellen Eagle is the author of the articles, “An Elegant Unrest” (2004) and “Composing a Life” (2005) both published in LINEA, Journal of the Arts Students League of New York. Her paintings have been the subject of several magazine articles including American Artist, (December 2004) and the cover article for The Pastel Journal (June 2006). Eagle’s work is also featured in The Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice, by Juliette Aristides (2006). In 2013, Ellen Eagle published the Watson-Guptill monograph, Painting Atelier: Essential Lessons in Techniques, Practices and Materials.
Ellen currently teaches at the Art Students League of New York and the National Academy School of Fine Arts, New York. Recently, she was named the 2024 Hall of Fame Honoree by the Pastel Society of America at the National Arts Club in New York.