FAIRBANKS - In the Sipping Streams tea shop off College Road, tucked in the back room and hanging around the walls, are the characters from what seems to be every known literary fantasy.

Ellen Million’s whimsical fantasy art has been a passion for as long as she can remember. Growing up in Fairbanks, she loved to draw, and most of the prints hanging on Sipping Stream’s walls involve ink or pencil in some way. She also loved to read — everything from fairy tales to the backs of cereal boxes — and that is reflected in her art.

Dragons, unicorns, fairies and mermaids are among the subjects, but she doesn’t follow the rulebook. In fact, some of her characters seem to openly mock tradition.

“I don’t like to stick to the party line, so to speak,” Million explained.

Her mermaids aren’t the typical Disney stick-figure princesses. Instead, they boast dragon-like fins on their meaty bodies. Her “Belly Dancer of the Sea” print also portrays a

heftier mermaid.

Amongst the tea tables and the spiced aroma, the silence and sense of isolation draw sippers in to Million’s fantasy world. Though her rebellious unicorns and bubbly fairies lead one to a dreamy world, they are brought back to reality by her witty, earthy captions.

In a print where an angel lets her breath slip into the surrounding frigid air, viewers feel themselves tumbling away to a fantasy world. Her caption of “Angel in Winter” lets them know that Million is well grounded: “I should probably say something deep about how angels are all around us, every day …

but mostly I just like to

draw feathers.”

“I really like to have fun with my art,” she said.

She also explains her mermaid obsession in “Freedom.” “Mermaids are fun to draw — an excuse for flowy hair, frivolous fins and frilly fish.”

Her artwork sometimes reflects her own experiences, with an Alaska twist. In “Aurora Borealis,” the breath of a beautiful fairy sends the northern lights a-dancing. She nicknamed that one “Morning Breath.”

Million, 33, graduated from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where her dad worked as a programmer as she grew up. She keeps Web sites where she sells others’ fantasy artwork and her own, and a blog called “Ellen, Dot Addict.”

This is Million’s first art show. She said she was flattered when Sipping Streams contacted her. At the show, coloring books, stickers, cards, etched mirrors and ornaments are for sale. Her works will stay up until the end of the month and the print prices range from $35 to $275.

Contact News-Miner intern Reba Lean at 459-7572.

IF YOU GO

What: Whimsical Fantasy Art of Ellen Million

When: Through March 31

Where: Sipping Streams Tea House, 3535 College Road

Tickets: Free

Information: www.ellenmillion.com or 457-1660