Mona Isabella Lawton was born at Drayton, near Toowoomba, Queensland, on 18 September 1872 and educated at Toowoomba. She married Robert Anderson Elliott on 2 January 1901 and had two sons, Keith Lawton and Robert Neville. In 1918, as a young widow, she took over the Stevens Photographic Studio at 466 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, to support her family. She also worked as a photographer when she came to live in Brisbane. She probably learned pottery from a student of L.J. Harvey’s (qv), as her early works do not conform to Harvey’s series of exercises. She also studied art with the prominent artist Vida Lahey .

Elliott exhibited mainly pottery at the Arts and Crafts Society of Queensland in the years 1927-40 but also included embroidery, watercolour and oil painting. Her pottery received brief but positive mentions in the reviews of the displays while one in 1937 described 'a tall vase decorated with koalas.’ which is most likely the vase illustrated in Fahy. She exhibited collections of pottery with the Royal Queensland Art Society (RQAS) 1930-32 and also included woodcarving and leatherwork amongst her skills.

She was a dedicated worker in her promotion of art: a council member of the RQAS 1938-41 (where she also exhibited oils and watercolours 1930-48), convenor of the art coterie of the Brisbane Women’s Club 1938-39, President of the Arts and Crafts Society of Queensland 1939-41, a foundation member and first President of the Half Dozen Group of Artists in 1941 (life member from 1957) and a life member of the Toowoomba Art Society. She returned to live in Toowoomba in 1942, largely devoting herself to painting floral still lives which she exhibited with the latter two societies. She died in Toowoomba on 26 March 1964.

Queensland Art Gallery: Research Curator, Queensland Heritage

Writers:

Cooke, Glenn R. Note: Research Curator, Queensland Heritage, Queensland Art Gallery

Date written:

2011

Last updated:

2011