Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton
Elizabeth aka Grandma Layton was a native from Wellsville, Kansas.
After a lifetime of struggling with a bi-polar disorder and depression, she began contour drawing at the age of 68, which she credits for changing her life.
Elizabeth created over a thousand drawings using the blind contour method where she looked into a mirror, and drew what she saw and felt. Her work included self-portraits, women's rights, racial prejudice, the environment, AIDS, marriage equality and aging.
She is noted for never selling her work. Instead, she gave her art away to charities, which included civil liberties projects, public television, art organizations and women's shelters. Her drawings and writings have since been exhibited at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American Art, and appear in more than 200 art museums and centers throughout the U.S.
