Joel Ellis Art needs Flowers and Journals

I must have flowers always and always –Monet          

Ten Tulips
Favorite of
Helene's Mom

It is the end of summer with all its tricks, heat, humidity, mosquitoes and the end of waiting for the stuff of life to get back to, well you know do I dare say, normal.  We all hope to get that summer trip in before we are tied into our autumn routine. And, of course, we always hesitate regarding the pandemic.

O yes flowers, I hope you have noticed the flowers wild and planted by well-intentioned humans. What a year for flowers. As I type this last sentence, I looked around the house and see several new flower paintings mixed with old favorites. Careful traveling has helped put most of us in touch with things of beauty and meaning and given us time to reflect on the elements of our life that are so important to us.

Purple Pair, once in a botany
exhibit at Rackham Hall, 
University of Michigan

For years I have tried to keep a journal of the events that have been presented to us on this very interesting art journey. The hard cover journals keep piling up. A few years of the records were miss placed but after a thorough search the history records have been found. Reviewing the years in these pages is quite the long and revealing read. The journals became an important element of an ongoing and evolving inventory. After years of good tries at record keeping, we have finally a professional IT grandson to help with this daunting task on the location of missing paintings - where is it? Or where was it? Do we still have it hidden like the journals? Ryan’s good skill with Excel is proving to be a wonderful gift to help us into a more accurate record of the art inventory.

  

Elizabeth's Iris
For my Mom in her
last years

As for me and painting I am reminded of a good friend’s encouragement many years ago, “Bloom where you are planted.” Thank for your advice Janet S. and Claude Monet 

These are a few of my flower paintings over the years, most are in private homes.

Summer Joy, 36x36
(recently sold, displayed 
 the owner's charming
bathroom)

  

       

            

           Lellow (named by a darlin child)

Golden Flowers, 30x40
For our favorite granddaughter.
(Our only granddaughter)