There is a rare and delightful playfulness in Harper's artwork. There is also graphic genius. Harper said, "When I look at a wildlife or nature subject, I don't see feathers, fur, scapulars, or tail coverts—none of that. I see exciting shapes, color combinations, patterns, textures, fascinating behavior, and endless possibilities for making interesting pictures. I regard the picture as an ecosystem in which all the elements are interrelated, interdependent, perfectly balanced, without trimming or unutilized parts; and herein lies the lure of painting: In a world of chaos, the picture is one small rectangle in which the artist can create an ordered universe."

Reared on a West Virginia farm, Harper developed an early appreciation and love of animals as well as design. He attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and graduated from the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he also taught for many years. Gradually, Harper began to lose his interest in realism. "I felt shackled by the laws of perspective and shading and decided that the constant attempt to create the illusion of three dimensions on the two-dimensional plane of the picture was limiting to me as an artist. Realistic painting persuades the viewer that he is looking into space rather than at a flat surface. It denies the picture plane, which I affirm and use as an element of design. Wildlife art has been dominated by realism, but I have chosen to do it differently because I think flat, hard-edged, and simple."

In his artwork, Harper imaginatively investigated the similarities between human and wild animal behaviors, but completely without anthropomorphism. "I learn as much as I can about the creatures that interest me, and they all do. I observe them and find out how they interact with each other and their environments and ask myself, 'What if?'"

The family moved again, to Cincinnati, in the 1930s when Edie’s father landed a position with Procter & Gamble. They lived in an apartment on Springfield Pike while Edie attended Wyoming High School (graduating in 1939), all the while creating art at a level beyond her actual years. The desire for formal art training burned in her heart. So in 1940, the respected Art Academy of Cincinnati welcomed Edie as one of its most eager new admissions.

On the first day of the program, on the steps of the administration building, Edie met an equally earnest young man from West Virginia, Charley Harper. In classes and conversations, she learned that he shared her admiration of painters such as Miro and Klee. They studied printmaking with the Mable Stampler and were fortunate enough to spend a semester with legendary Josef Albers, visiting to teach his Color Theory course. For several years afterward, Albers sent Edie his hand-screened Christmas cards.

When Charley was drafted for service in World War II, Edie interrupted her classes to aid the war effort in a civilian capacity. She photographed hydro dams and cement test samples and processed the film in the lab for the Corps of Engineers. Later, she would receive critical acclaim for the black and white photographs she took with her 8 x 10 camera employing her own imaginative subject matter. This resulted in an exhibition at the Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center.

Soon after the war, Edie and Charley resumed their studies at the Academy. Following graduation in 1947, they embarked on a six-month camping honeymoon throughout America. Edie kept an illustrated journal. Every day they sketched and painted, occasionally the same natural setting, and compared the results.

Upon their return from the honeymoon, Edie and Charley maintained separate studios in the basement of Edie’s parents’ home in Roselawn. The young couple helped care for Edie’s father, who had multiple sclerosis and were able to save Charley’s earnings from his day job at Schatten Studio. In 1953 Edie gave birth to their son, Brett, named after California photographer Brett Weston. Throughout the 1950s Edie continued painting, supplemented by a rich output of jewelry, contemporary photography, enameling, sculpture, and silkscreen prints.

In the 1960s Edie added weaving to the roster of media she had mastered. During this decade she converted to acrylic paint and completed a series of grid-centric images. Toward the end of the 1960s, Edie returned to explore an early, just-hinted-at interest in the design possibilities provided by stories from the Bible.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Edie produced acrylic paintings of cats, childhood memories, and stylized Old and New Testament themes. Many of these original works served as the basis for prints screened solely by Edie or in cooperation with a commercial silkscreen printer. During these decades, she also completed a remarkable array of colorful, abstract loom weavings.

In the 1990s Edie was her characteristic "Jill of all trades": making sculptures from finding, waterworn wood objects; lithographic monoprints; an illustrated children's book; and watercolor paintings.

Throughout their over 60-year marriage, Edie and Charley were each other's inspirations and constructive critics. In truth, she stood toe to toe with him, paralleling him in artistic skill and achievement distilled through her own unique set of eyes.