Elizabeth Jaeger was born in 1954 in Geneva, Illinois. She studied painting at the University of Notre Dame and West Virginia University. She lived in Edinburgh, Scotland from 1984-1989 and has lived in rural West Virginia since then.

The works on paper combine the translucent qualities of watercolor, encaustic and pastel. The layers of animal, human and map shapes are influenced by the writings of Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell, Edward Abbey, Black Elk and the experiences of hiking and camping in some of the country's most beautiful wilderness areas. The magic of sleeping out under the stars provides the backdrop for many of the works here.

The three-dimensional works all use masks cast from a mold of the artist's face. Several refer to the degradation of the landscape caused by the strip-mining all around her home.

The recent oil paintings on canvas use personal family photographs as a point of departure, which are incorporated into the paintings to provide reference. The terrain of the subconscious mind is the theme that links all the works.