Born on September 11th, 1906 in Walworth County, Wisconsin, Elwood Warren Bartlett was a self-taught artist. Bartlett worked as a railroad clerk at the Division Engineer's Office in Milwaukee where he developed an interest in printmaking and eventually became an engraver and illustrator in Milwaukee and for the Chicago Tribune. Bartlett slowly developed his skills working with John Taylor Arms and by reading "A Woodcut Manual" by J.J. Lankes, he began with linoleum, a pen knife, and a gouge as his only tools. Bartlett transformed an old letterpress to print his blocks, moving slowly to woodblocks. His landscapes gained national attention when he became one of two Wisconsin artists to be accepted into the National Academy of Design Annual Exhibition in 1940 alongside the widely known Robert Von Neumann. Bartlett went on to sell several of his prints to collectors and was featured in multiple exhibitions. He died in 1981 in Elgin, Illinois.