Ellen Bijvoet was born and raised in Holland. She left for South Africa in 1972 at the age of 20. After initially residing in Pretoria and Johannesburg, then spending 39 years in Hout Bay, she finally moved to Hoekwil in 2018 – and loves every minute of it!

Ellen married last year for the second time. She has two sons, Rene and Marc, from her first marriage. She started taking art lessons in 2013.