Elizabeth Barsham (formerly painting as E.M. Christensen) is an award-winning artist working in Tasmania, Australia's island state.

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Elizabeth's uniquely imaginative oil paintings are an emotional expression of her ancestral connection to the landscape and its people. Often based on old family photographs, they feature mysterious figures against a backdrop of rugged mountains, impenetrable forest and crumbling buildings in an unsettling but hauntingly beautiful mixture of nostalgia, gothic romanticism and humour.

A descendant of the first convict settlers, she has also written several books and articles about Tasmanian family history and was the first Tasmanian to publish a book about a convict ancestor (Thomas Burbury, Pioneer of Tasmania by E.M. Christensen and W. Sinclair, Victoria, 1979).

Barsham does not dwell on lurid details of the colonial penal system but admires the determination and fortitude shown by pioneering men and women who endured terrible hardships in creating the townships, farms and industries enjoyed today. She is passionate about the need to explore and record what traces remain of their lives, while preserving both the built environment and the remaining forests and primaeval wilderness.

Workshops in the Wilderness This summer I will be conducting two painting/drawing workshops at Tarraleah Village. dates: It's Australia Day - so paint your own Australian Landscape in oils     28-29 January, 2012 Who says you can't draw? Grab some charcoal and prove them wrong!     3-4 March, 2012 more information about workshops Exhibition and Residency For the entire month of January at Tarraleah you can see an exhibition of thirty of my paintings created over more than a decade. But that is not all! I am Artist in Residence as well, painting in a nice little studio conveniently located next door to The Highlander Arms (real Highland pub with great food, local wine and beers). It's only a two-hour drive from Hobart, through some of Tasmania's prettiest scenery, so make a day out and come up and see me at Tarraleah. exhibition catalogue