Elizabeth Charles studied ceramics at the Canberra School of Art from 1979 to 1981. From 1983 she taught in NSW TAFE colleges and held the position as Senior Head Teacher, Arts and Media, Goulburn Campus TAFE NSW from 1990 to 2013, from 1999 to 2013 this responsibility widened to include all Campuses in the Southern Highlands, TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute.

Her professional exhibiting career began in 1983. She has held 9 solo exhibitions and has been included in a over 45 group exhibitions including, Vessel – Contemporary Australian Ceramics (Canberra School of Art Gallery, 1996) Matter of Making – CSA Alumni (Canberra School of Art Gallery, 1996), The Shape between Continuity and Innovation (Faenza, Italy, 2002) and Ceramics : the Australian & New Zealand Context (Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, 2002), Alan Peascod – Influence and Dialogue (Wollongong Regional Gallery, 2008, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2009 and Conversations (Sabbia Gallery, Sydney, 2009), Of National Significance (Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, 2015) and Ceramic Revisions II (MAY SPACE, Sydney, 2017).

As well as being represented in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra City Museum and Gallery, Orange Regional Art Gallery, Manly Regional Art Gallery, Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, Museo Internationale Delle Ceramiche, Italy, Charles’ work is in numerous private collections in Australia and overseas. In 1990 she was awarded a Professional Development Grant by the Visual Arts/Crafts Board of the Australia Council. In 1999 she was a visiting lecturer in the Ceramics Studio, Canberra Institute of the Arts, Australian National University and in 2005, a visiting lecturer in the Fine Arts Faculty of the University of Chiang Mai, Thailand. In 2016 Charles curated the exhibition Materialise for Sturt Gallery, Mittagong.

Elizabeth Charles lives and works in the Southern Highlands, New South Wales, Australia.