Artist Profile

Teresa Ellis

Artist Statement

I am a nature photographer, illustrator, printmaker, and citizen naturalist. My work explores the intelligence, beauty, and quiet teachings of Midwestern and surrounding ecosystems. Rooted at the crossroads of science, art, magic, and healing, I document a world often overlooked: the vibrant lives of plants, the hopeful resilience of our vanishing prairies, and the hidden rhythms of our forests. My process begins with slow, immersive time in the landscape. Long hikes through the woods. Quiet paddles on still waters. Many contemplative hours among wildflowers and moss. I shoot and develop my images digitally, capturing raw digital negatives that I process and print using a digital equivalent of a darkroom process. Each image is carefully crafted through this method, aiming to preserve as much of the depth and nuance of the moment as this two-dimensional medium will allow. Nothing is staged—all photographs capture spotaneous moments in nature as I experienced them. Through intimate, close-up portraits of nature, I create visual stories that reveal survival, connection, and adaptation at work in these ecosystems. More than just photographs, my images reflect on what the natural world teaches us about growth, belonging, and human connection. I see ecosystems as living models of collaboration and mutual support—where every organism’s mere existence contributes, often in ways not immediately visible. This view is validating and empowering, inviting us to reimagine ourselves with more acceptance, wholeness, and peace. Nearly half of my work focuses on native plants. Their inventiveness has shown me that nature is enduringly creative and clever, which in turn has given me permission to be the same—to experiment, to adapt, and to see that I am exactly who and what I need to be in this moment. “Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” LEONARDO DAVINCI “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” MARY OLIVER “Nature held me close and seemed to find no fault with me.” LESLIE FEINBERG

Bio / Description

Teresa came to the Midwest 20 years ago from the Shenandoah Valley, stopping on the way at the Maryland Institute College of Art for a design degree. A working artist since her teens, her work has spanned mediums of painting, printmaking, photography, illustration, sculpture, digital art, and design. She is currently focused on nature-themed photography and printmaking under the banner of Midwestcapades, studying, portraying, and teaching about Midwest nature and native plants. Teresa has been featured by WCIA, the News Gazette, Smile Politely Magazine, Daily Illini, and Champaign Center Partnership. She’s been invited to show work at more than 40 juried art fairs across the Midwest and counting. Locally, Teresa has exhibited at the Boneyard Arts festival ’23, ’24, ’25, Busey Bank’s 1868: The exhibition 2025, Artists Against Aids, CU Craft League Art Fair, Crystal Lake Park Arts Fair, West Side Arts, BAM Arts Market, Mistletoe Markets, and Pygmalion. On summer weekends when she’s not hiking, camping, paddling, or at a fair, you can also find her at the Urbana Market at the Square.