Big Surprise in Fort Wayne Indiana!

Out of the Box  20x24 acrylic on linen

       We have been preparing a show of 30 paintings for ShiawasseeArt Center (SAC) the last few weeks. All the paintings are framed and in shipping boxes waiting for the drop off day. The prep work for any major show takes many hours of caring for details and at times frustrating delays but all is completed as we are looking at our sore finger tips from the hanging wires. Ah, a sigh of relief.  

       Helene and I needed a little R and R so we took a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana to the art center area. The first visit was to Art Link, an old favorite art venue. In one small gallery space we saw young children’s art that was so pure and sweet. We could just imagine the small hands plying with their creations. Art Link shares space in a building of Arts United. Lots of education going on here that includes visual and performing arts.

       Across the street at the newly redesigned Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA) we were astounded again by young artists from high schools in 54 counties of Indiana and Ohio. The museum offers one of the rare scholastic arts programs in the country highlighting the value of art education. The works of these young people was very inspiring and gave us hope that the new generations will be just fine and the arts will thrive into the future.

      We walked through the American Tapestry Biennial 9 show in another gallery of the museum with intricate beautiful works. We said to each other, “how can this get any better?”

The next large gallery room we glided into under the haze of Stendhal syndrome - too much fine art. We almost zipped through this gallery of large colorful paintings without a closer look. Stendhal on hold our quick glance around the large gallery was stunning. I had to sit and regain some form of composure. While sitting in a stage of utter surprise I let the magnificent paintings come to me, and they came - with their stories and their own histories of survival.

       Closer inspection of images spanning mid-century master works surprised me. Hidden Treasures the sign said: The John Whittenberger Collection of G. David Thompson at Peru Indiana High School. What? A high school collection in Peru, Indiana? What was this story all about? We asked at the desk and got a fragment of the story. Thanks to the internet we were able to piece most of the story together.

       G. David Thompson, a Peru High School alumni back in 1913, called a troubled student, found art and art appreciation through a beloved teacher, John Whittenberger. Thompson left Indiana for Pittsburg where he became a financial investor and an executive in Pittsburgh steel industry. But it was art and art collection that gave him great pleasure. In 1938 he donated 8 pieces of his collection to Peru High School in the name of his mentor, Whittenberger.

       Throughout the years until his death Thompson donated a rich collection of works by Picasso, Dali, Miro, Roualt, Predergast, and dozens of other fine art paintings along with ancient Oriental pottery, 200 items in all. The trouble was over those years that these treasured works became too valuable to hang on the walls of the old high school. When the new school was built in 1970 the works were tucked carefully away in a closet designated as the janitor’s supply room. Art teachers over those years knew about the works and even used a few now and then for their art education.

       It is the students of those lessons that have taken the initiative to present the valued collection to the public and the students of Peru as intended by the gracious donor G. David Thompson. A new gallery is being built in the high school along with high tech security. What a story! What a testament to the value of a good art education in the schools.

       I hope you get a chance to explore art in your area and if you get to the Midwest check out the venues at Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Unfortunately the premier showing of Hidden Treasures will be closing February 24. The student scholastic show continues until mid-April.

       And if you are in mid-Michigan during March and early April please come to the Shiawassee Art Center (206 Curwood Castle Drive, Owosso, MI 48867) to see Joel Ellis Art in the main gallery. Other artists in the building include blacksmith metal artist, Doug Thayer and photography by Karen Kangas-Preston. Opening reception is March 1 from 6 – 8 pm. 

       Hope to see you there.

Earth Cycle 18x24  acrylic on linen

Touch of Lavender  36x48  oil on canvas , Governor's  Residence selection

Wild Summer 30x40 acrylic on canvas

Three of the paintings in the upcoming show at Shiawassee Arts Center February 26-April 14

Opening Reception Friday, March 1 6-8 pm

Look about you, folks and enjoy!

Joel

Art As Adventure

     We are preparing for a featured artist show at ShiawasseeArt Center in Owosso, Michigan. The Center has grown so that an additional room is available for more paintings. We are carefully selecting recent works to put into the catalog for the show. In the process of going through paintings, we find ourselves discussing the back story on some pieces, the inspiration, the problem solving on route to completion. The more serious and challenging aspect of going through the inventory is seeing the subtle and not so subtle changes that take place over the course of merrily painting and looking for that next exciting jump hopefully in into future progress. All the last few words are trying to gently say I found some, dare I say, junk.

Summer Fusion 20x24

     Well, what to do with the weak stuff? Everyone in the arts has the same dilemma being self-critical but not beating ourselves up too much. Over the last few years my style has made some changes from object centered to more colors and forms moving and flowing in space creating interesting shapes and patterns. This phase of my journey is uncharted and sometimes down- right nerve racking but I have my guide book, Art and Fear (David Bayles & Ted Orland, The Image Continuum Press, 2004).

Eleven Wonders 16x20 acrylic on linen

     Today’s  comfort reading came just in time ”…the far greater danger is not that the artists will fail to learn anything from the past, but will fail to teach anything new to the future.”

     These words of wisdom are very helpful when looking over the artistic production for this show and thinking of the adventurous steps taken in the last years. Here’s to the new steps taken in the New Year and wishing you artistic adventures without fear.

Joel

www.joelellisart.com

Inspired by Life

Sand Waves, recent winner Okemos

     Inspiration, just where does it come from? It most likely varies from person to person but for me that creative nudge comes from a variety of stimuli.

     We have traveled over much of North America to bring home photos that fill three shoe boxes, along with their accompanying funny stories. Niagara Falls, over many visits, has created at least two paintings. The sunsets, lo the many sunsets, has garnered their own section in yea old shoebox.

Red Bluff 30x40 

     Paintings like Red Bluff and Sand Waves, just to mention a few, were inspired by the mysteries of defusing evening light. Summer dune walks, and a few winter walks too have helped to put paint to canvas. The summer dune walks are the easiest to walk and paint. Sand in sandals is a lot more pleasant than snow penetrating old boots.

      For me, as a painter, I sometimes need a push to get motivated as the fore mentioned sunsets, but sometimes it is a technique in the process of painting that gets the paint flying.

Gravity 16x20 oil on canvas

     A few years ago a big dribble of paint slid down the canvas creating a free streak sending a big WOW echoing out of the studio. So I did what all artists do when having fun. I went with the slow rolling run of paint sliding down the perfect white canvas. To paraphrase Picasso – you can’t create until you destroy the white surface.

     So for me the birth of a new technique was born. Sometimes the creative stimuli is the expectation of a new method of applying paint such as the big dribble. And so the fun begins bringing with it a new path to explore and a new series of images.

      We all have heard about renowned art communities- the Impressionists, the Hudson River School, the Group of Seven - and their valuable contribution to the art world through the mixing and blending of their dialog between the members. Being in an artistry environment can also stimulate the work of artists.

     Museums and galleries are favorite haunts of the art creator to keep the creative energy flowing.    

So what inspires you to do your art? Could it be your shoebox of photo memories, that special sunset or the new technique that keeps you going on to the next challenge? Maybe it is visiting your favorite museums and galleries and adding new ones to keep the ideas fresh. 

     As the  sculptor, Louise Nevelson, reminded us, “Art is everywhere, except it has to pass through a creative mind.” Whatever inspires you, I hope you keep creating. 

Joel 
www.joelellisart.com 

Giving Original Art

Gift giving season is fast approaching. I was watching customers recently in the fine art of shopping. My observations, though not scientific, sure were fun to see how the shopper goes about the process of picking out their prizes. Most people picked up and felt for quality and held it up to the light to get a better look-see. In art shows the potential buyer walks around and among the art, hands behind their back like a Norman Rockwell painting trying not to touch the art work. Wouldn't it be fun to have an art show that encouraged the handling and hefting of the art pieces? 

We all have the experience of giving what we hope, is a thoughtful gift, followed by a gnawing feeling that the gift was, well in the dark recesses of the recipients abode, i.e. closet. Take heart. Just tell yourself it was given in the spirit of whatever makes you feel better and good luck next time.

Speaking of the spirit of giving, we went to the dedication and opening of the new Broad Art Museum on the Michigan State University campus. The dignitaries were replete, the atmosphere was charged with excitement as we all waited to get our first look inside this very unusual building which in itself is a grand piece of art. This is quite a gift to give, all forty million dollars’ worth of hope and encouragement for the arts into the future for generations to come.

Here’s hoping Eli and Edyth Broad Art Museum will continue to shine and stand out as a beacon for the arts for many years.

            Though many of us don’t have the big bucks to give like some fortunate folks, don’t lose your artistic eye, and keep shopping for that special gift. As we shop this season we hope you will stay positive and give original art a chance to make someone happy.

Happy holiday, 
Joel  www.joelellisart.com   

On Hold  16x20  oil on canvas. Boats caught in ice, Lake Michigan

Snowy Ridge  18x24  acrylic on canvas

What is The Value of Art?

Winter Trail 9x12 oil

Oak leaves have tumbled off their high summer perch and are swirling on the deck as the first early “chance of snow” forecasts get us thinking here comes winter. Oh well, more time to get to our business of putting holiday art shows up and planning for the looming New Year.  We have a one person show at Shiawassee Art Council in February and an art demonstration at Jackson Civic Art Association in March. We should have an interesting beginning of the New Year.

Have you ever wondered what the inside scoop is all about when it comes to dealing with the big time art auction houses or your local art dealer? The book, The Value of Art by Michael Findlay (Prestel Publishing, 2012) can open up some doors to more awareness of the art business. Where we fit, if we do fit, in this art business puts you on the world stage with all the art patrons over the last century.
Findlay, who was with the noted art auction house, Christie's from 1984 to 2000, takes a close look at art as an investment. In the book Findlay purports to buy what speaks to you, a piece of art that you can look at for hours without tiring.  As for art investments, as in the stock market, buy low sell high. He points out that economic cycles are also reflected in the business of art.

“There are so many ways in which a work of art can act on our sensibilities from the primly intellectual to the wildly emotional. We can be transported to the lowest depths of sorrow or taken to a high spiritual plane. We  can be delighted, we can be baffled, we can be appalled, we can be refreshed, we can be moved to tears or spend the rest of the day smiling,” Michael Findlay on how art affects the individual.

It is fun to look over the shoulder of some of the largest art deals that have taken place  internationally and you don’t have to spend a dime thanks to this fun read.

Gulls in Flight 9x12 oil 

Back in the studio I look around at a lot of stuff that someday, hopefully, will inspire a painting or two. Today inspiration came from a tourist gift shop purchase on the great lakes coast, a little pair of seagulls bouncing on springy wires. I hope you can smell the fresh lake air and hear the call of the gulls.

Joel

www.joelellisart.com

p.s. Grateful to have received First Place at the 41st Art Exhibition of Okemos Library annual fundraiser, Okemos Michigan.

Sand Waves 13x23 oil on board, First Place November 3 2012 Okemos  Show

Joel F Ellis Back to the Studio

     The big summer events of late summer and early autumn have been covered with the usual angst. The biggest jobs, Art Prize and the featured-artist show in the lower wing at a large physician’s building consumed a good deal of organizing time. The Physician’s Building show, through October, has twenty-five paintings in a grouping titled, “Blue Skies Smiling” (because I smile every time a clean canvas begins). These big projects took most of the creative energy, while the real fun part of this trip, painting, has been set aside.

       So the tension and guilt to paint builds. My usual starters seemed to fizzle out, building more tension. The two old friends that help in the painting restart mode were employed, Art and Fear (Bayles and Orland) and Hawthorne on Painting (Charles Hawthorne, 1938, available from Dover). Both books have many passages tagged by sticky notes. I am ready for their soothing guidance. The note markers lead to a quiet confidence drifting over my creative soul and yes the process worked. I did go back to the studio and painted the way that felt right, free and spontaneous.  

       The newsstand magazines encourage artists to blog and blog often, almost like vote and vote often. The articles also encourage showing the latest work. Sounds good and worth considering but for many the process of creating is never quite completed. My studio work space has quite a few paintings I know could use “just a little more something”. So when do I call a painting completed? For some, including me, this is one of the most difficult moments in the painting process - when to put the brushes, tubes of paint, stirring sticks, pine boughs or whatever is being used in playing with the paint, down and say, “finished”.

       With all this prattle about getting started and then stopping I humbly announce the completion of my latest painting . . . well maybe.

Harmony, acrylic on linen, 20x24

       The acrylic on linen canvas was birthed, after much shall we say struggle and the usual wow feeling on its possible completion. So here’s to the latest, I hope, Harmony!!!   

Enjoy, Joel

Please check out www.joelellisart.com 

ArtPrize 2012 It's a Real Trip!

        Art Prize is in the final voting stage of the top ten public selections which ends October 4, the show ends Sunday October 7. Check www.artprize.org to see what the folks chose on this very interesting journey. We put Blue Niagara, the already award winning 30x40 acrylic on canvas in the Tapas restaurant - San Chez Bistro, 38 W. Fulton, Grand Rapids. The owners and staff of San Chez have been cordial hosts and great supporters of this terrific art experience.

We went to their opening party and greeting for the artists; then to the B. O. B. (Big Old Building) for a very crowded reception with many artists to get the huge art show off and running.  The  big ol’ B.O.B. hosted several large works on its four floors of walls and outdoor sculptures in the parking lot. Busloads of visitors have come from the Midwest and all over North America to Grand Rapids for this huge art exhibition, ArtPrize 2012.

The installation of some of the large sculptures was art in itself. Some pieces required heavy lifting cranes to get their entries in place. Our installation required a brick wall and a screw to put Blue Niagara in place. With the addition of two spot lights, the painting has a stunning setting in the San Chez Bistro Dining Room with a view of the city.

Don’t worry about the voting or the competition,  if you have time by Sunday October 7 go for the art, the mind blowing art.

As for me, it is time to put together works for a number of other shows including a twenty painting display for the Lansing area, which includes the selection, framing and putting together the show catalogs, and oh yes, time to paint again.

If you get a chance to get to Art Prize in the next few days Go,  go and enjoy the fine art and even some not so good art and enjoy the interesting city with it fine dining and party atmosphere. 

A unique work of art getting ready to exhibit.

Joel