Elizabeth Blackadder studied at Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art from 1949 to 1954. In 1954 she was awarded a Carnegie Travelling Scholarship by the Royal Scottish Academy, which took her to southern Europe. Blackadder also received an Andrew Grant Post-Graduate Scholarship. In 1955 she was awarded another Travelling Scholarship and spent nine months in Italy. Blackadder lectured in Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art from 1962 to 1986. Blackadder’s first solo exhibition was held in 1959 at 57 Gallery, Edinburgh. Since then, solo exhibitions of her work have been held almost every year to date, both nationally and internationally. Blackadder is well known for her delicate paintings of flowers and still life subjects, however, she has also painted landscapes and portraits. She is the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy.