Elizabeth McCarthy (née Jess) was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1960. She studied visual art at Prahran College, Melbourne, graduating with a diploma in 1981.She did further studies at the National Gallery School Melbourne, graduating in 1983 with a postgraduate diploma in fine art and was awarded the National Gallery Victoria Acquisitive Prize.In 1985, she travelled overseas to study the art galleries, in particular the work of Vincent Van Gogh.Between 1988 and 2005 she lived in Far West New South Wales, teaching art at TAFE Colleges and outreach centres in Aboriginal communities. She has been selected in three national acquisitive drawing awards. She was inaugural winner of the Far West Award for Excellence in Visual Arts in 2003.She continued her studies at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, graduating with a Master of Arts degree in 2003. She raised two sons as a sole parent and moved with them to Victoria in 2006. She now lives in Geelong with her husband and family.Her first publication in 2015 was a book about her father, John Jess, Seeker of Justice: The Role of the Parliament in the HMAS Voyager tragedy. Her second publication in 2017 was a book of her artwork, The Power of Nature.The Shape of a Life is her third publication, a book written for young people to educate them about relationships, and in particular, about Anti-Social Personality Disorder, the unknown face of domestic abuse in modern society.