LIVERMORE FALLS – A young artist from Temple has a selection of her delicate watercolors on display through June at the Community Art Gallery.

Peg Ellis, who also works as an educational technician at the Academy Hill School in Wilton, often finds subjects for her work as she watches the children on the playground.

In fact, one of her series, Kids in Motion, features their playground activities from different angles. They also form one of the basics in her part-time business, Creative Spurts, along with her other favorite subjects, florals, birds and country scenes.

Ellis began her art instruction at the age of eight, exploring oil, pastel and other media with impressionist Kathryn Bosteley in Wellsville, N.Y.

She continued her studies at State University College in Fredonia, N.Y., and, after moving to this area with her husband, David, she took lessons with Stan Kierstead of Farmington.

Although she began with oils and pastels, she finds watercolors more challenging, calling them addictive. “You have to think it through, where the light is coming from and where it will hit. Even the paints are a challenge as some shades are more transparent,” she said.

But sometimes the paint works by itself, creating an image not originally intended, she notes. Ellis prefers to work from life but sometimes she relies on photographs to help capture an essence.

She finds her best time for working is late at night when her husband works that shift. She is now working on a series, Thinking Like a Child, capturing the thrill of what she, herself, sees from the swing set.

Ellis belongs to UpCountry Artists and has displayed her work in Art in the Park and in Christmas shows. This is her first solo exhibit.

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