Emilia Van Nest Markovich grew up in New York. She studied at Alfred University, and then received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting at the University of New Mexico. After moving to Denver, Colorado she obtained her Master of Arts from the University of Northern Colorado. She maintains a studio in Howard, Colorado, where she works on a variety of mono printing, pastel and painting.

Emilia has been an art educator for over 30 years, during which time she received numerous awards for her work and her teaching. She has participated in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States and her work is included in many public, corporate and private collections, including the Colorado Art in Public Spaces Program, University of Colorado, Denver Hospice, Denver’s Children’s Hospital, Swiss Bank, Amoco, Kaiser and the Mc Donald’s Corporation. Galleries in Denver, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque and Chicago have represented her work.