Growing up in Apex, North Carolina, Elyse started taking art classes in middle school, and by high school she was in love. She took every single art class that was available to her, both in and out of school. After graduating from Meredith College with a Bachelors of Arts in Studio Art and Art Education, Elyse worked for the Wake County School System for several years teaching 2D and 3D art and eventually even pottery. 

While Elyse was pursuing her career in education, her then-fiancé was starting an adventure that would take them across the globe to New Zealand. The five years that they spent there molded her in so many ways as she experienced the new and different culture, and helped her learn more about herself. One aspect of New Zealand’s culture that impacted Elyse the most was the collectiveness, valuing of teamwork and the success of the community over individualism. For example, there is the analogy of the field of poppy flowers. If one flower is taller than the others, it is cut so that the entire field is uniform. Elyse, like many artists, embraces uniqueness and self-expression thus causing her to stand out and giving her the name of a Tall Poppy.

Upon returning to the United States, Elyse shares that she has a new love and respect for the way that Americans embrace individuality, and now signs all of her artwork with a poppy as a reminder that Tall Poppies are needed in this world, and that her goal is to create more of them.

Now as a local Dunn artist, Elyse has been developing her artist career by selling pieces of her work and teaching both private and semi-private art lessons to clients of all ages through her business Artifactual. She also owns VanGoat Studios and paints murals in and around North Carolina.