Elizabeth was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1960. After raising three daughters, she and her husband moved from the Texas Hill Country to a 100 year old bungalow in downtown Boerne. Upon this move, Nolen responded to an unknown, yet reverberating energy to paint in 2014.

Happenstance led Elizabeth to her first painting lesson with Julianna Poldi in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Little did she know how intuitive the process would be. Unbeknownst to Nolen, that morning-long lesson was a continuation of her creative journey. To paint was to play, to be a child again, vulnerable without expectation or judgment, and that was scary, yet freeing for her. When Elizabeth paints, she remembers artist and friend, Cletus Behlman’s sage advice, ‘‘relax, there are no rules.” Realizing creative expression honors her soul and brings joy to the light and dark of life, learning became and remains Elizabeth’s prayer.

When filled with emotion, Nolen writes to capture a sacred moment in response to movement within. Her poetry has been anthologized, most recently in ‘easing the edges: a collection of everyday miracles’ (2021). Currently, Elizabeth is compiling her first full-length collection of poetry.

She is often found sauntering in salvage yards. They are a playground of infinite possibility and inspiration. She does not know what she will find until she sees it. Elizabeth designs and assembles disparate elements that can only become a three-dimensional sculpture by the unexpected.

Elizabeth is passionate about and shares her life revealed with others. The language told through her creative expression is God’s love. She hopes her renderings give other’s as much pleasure as God gives her as gift because creativity is our true nature ‘without rules.’