Beth-Ellen Pennell was born in Maine and has always considered it her home despite a 30-year career at the University of Michigan. She retired in 2018 and now splits her time between her home on the coast and the family cottage in the Western Mountains. She has a strong affinity to both Maine's coast and its western mountains, frequent themes in her work. Beth-Ellen painted her first painting in 2022 and has been honing her craft since.