Jill McElmurry (1954 – August 3, 2017) was an American painter, book illustrator, and sometime writer-illustrator of children's picture books.[1]
Biography
McElmurry was born in Los Angeles, California[2] and moved to Taos, New Mexico with her family as a child, where they stayed for six years.[3] She came from a family of artists, including her father, a character designer for film companies including Walt Disney; her mother, a fashion illustrator; and her grandfather, an RKO Pictures scenic painter.[4] McElmurry studied briefly at SUNY Purchase and at the School of Visual Arts in New York.[1]
She was the illustrator of numerous books for children, including the Little Blue Truck series written by Alice Schertle and the self-penned Mad About Plaid.[1][5] Her style features detailed gouache paintings with distinctive characters.[6] As a fine art painter, McElmurry initially worked in editorial illustration and later became known for her landscape paintings of New Mexico.[3]
McElmurry lived with her husband in Taos and in Good Dog Island, Minnesota until her death from breast cancer on August 3, 2017.[1]
