Elsie J Dill, a native Californian, was born in Oakland, but has resided in Salinas for many years. While majoring in Home Economics at San Jose State University, she met her husband, Murray, whose encouragment and supportiveness have been most helpful to Elsie's artistic endeavors. Her family of five children and 13 grandchildren are her best critics.

Mrs. Dill's art career began in oils with the late Hazel Hohberger of Salinas. Then she began to syudy seriously and developed under the tutleage of the late Charles Thomas of the Carmel Highlands. Dill was exposed to many of the nuclei of the old Carmel Art colony, natably Ruth Allan of Monterey. Other artists of influence have been Virginia Rogers of Carmel, the late Dorner Schuyler of Murphys, the late Robert Wood and Greg Kondos of Sacramento.

Variey, versatility, and knowledge of many media enhance her work. Elsie is known as a multi-media artist working in collage (paper and cloth), oil, watercolor, multimeia, ink, yarns, batik, weaving and basketry. Her masteries of composition, technique, and palette produce excitement and interest in her pieces.

Elsie is known as a colorist and likes to work plein aire. She has "no style", or at least not an observable one that could be identified. Perhaps this is because she is more interested in getting at the "observed reality" rather than the means of representing it. She tries to get the feeling of the subject into the painting and this usually draws the viewer.

She is a full time artist and maintains her studio in their Salinas Valley home. She is the recipient of many awards from shows through California. Several of her better-known works that can be seen in Salinas include the collage at the Grower-Shippers' Association Office, a large batik at the Community Center, and the Venetian glass mosaic mural on the facade of Palma High School.

Elsie has had many "one-woman" shows in addition to Monterey Peninsula and Tahoe Art Tour. At present she maintains affiliations with Valley Art Gallery in Salinas, Gallery Morgan Hill in Morgan Hill, and the gift shop of the Marriot in Monterey.