The parents allowed Eliza, Louisa, Mary Ann and Charlotte to travel to the continent to inspect galleries in France and Germany.

Anna Brownell Jameson wrote of Louise and Eliza Sharpe that no man could paint like they did.

[2] Like her sister, Eliza became a member of the old Watercolour society where she exhibited over 80 paintings and rose to be their secretary.

The most expensive pictures were biblical scenes but her other custom work sold well, though at more modest prices.

These prices and her success at having her work engraved for annuals allowed her to amass "a modest little fortune".