Imagination in the Technology Innovation Center East Lansing

Helene's Cosmos 16x20 watercolor

When we get started talking about the artist’s process of creating that masterpiece, the phrase, you have a lot of imagination, often comes up. If an artist looks at a vase of flowers and paints what is seen, the rendering is much like the vase of flowers, but if the flowers “spark” to the artist, a creative flow begins to takes over and a deeper meaning of flowers is revealed. The result is a piece replete with imagination. That spark is the energy that fuels the imagination for the creator and the viewer, we have completed the circle. 

We can say the art piece spoke to us, and so the circle is completed. The artist has made contact with the mysterious part of our being and we are moved.

Flowers are a source of universal beauty, but what about the painting that does not have a clear  object, that splash of colors and swirling shapes that we like to look at and try to make the canvas-dance speak to us. The artist is inspired to find an avenue of expression through the creative imagination. Another level of experience is added to take the viewer on a deeper journey. If for some reason we, the viewers, have subtle reason to resist the higher level of exploration, we might slide past the work and mutter, interesting or nice try or I don’t get it.

Eleven Wonders 16x20 acrylic on linen

Imagination can be for everyone.  We have all heard folks with their hands to their face say to no one in particular, “I guess I’m not creative enough,” or “Where do they come up with stuff.” With the non-object view of the art, the artist is trying to take us on a deeper journey to enhance the enjoyment and beauty all around us. The simple things in life take on a more significant place in our environment. We can absorb the artist’s “spark” and enjoy the experience of the creative flow.

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures. – Henry Ward Beecher

Flowers are coming, just imagine!

Joel

www.joelellisart.com 

paintings@joelellisart.com 

Post Script:

If you are out Sunday, March 9, and in or around East Lansing, you may want to enjoy some good music and snacks and fine art for the Miscellany exhibit at the Technology Innovation Center, 1 to 3 pm. upstairs of the old Barnes and Noble building. Use the walkway on the second floor from the parking structure.

Getting Started in 2014

     

      The January thaw has come and gone and we didn't fully appreciate the warmer weather. On the positive side we do have a real winter this year with lots of snow and school closings.  Oops, there I go again, must stay positive. The New Year usually means time to make goals we hope to work on and find new paths to carry us into other directions.

       After a few weeks off, the studio needed its usual new start of cleaning and restocking painting supplies. That done, it is now time for pleasant music, a good cup of tea, and inspiration with that wonderful feeling of starting the new season. Sounds idyllic, but the first few starts this year were, well, not so good. Never fear, with a little repainting and, dare I say a little luck, new works are coming.

We are stardust 36 x 36 acrylic on canvas

       Last year I had the honor of making a presentation to the Jackson Civic Art Association. I brought the tools used in my style of moving paint over a surface. Some of the kind folks in the audience were surprised to see the ways paint can be applied. Yes I do use the traditional paint brush, but there are also many interesting and novel/daring ways to apply paint.

       After a little dumpster-diving a new tool was found - a wide vertical window shade section. The result

might have been accomplished with a painting knife but maybe not. The size and flexibility of the new tool worked well with the viscosity and volume of paint. The resulting work rendered in this challenging manner means a lot to the creator and I hope you enjoy viewing it as much as I did creating it.

       Hope those of you in the northern climes stay warm during these wintry days.

Joel

Snowy Inspirations

     We are having our first measurable snow fall on top of mounds of oak leaves. We usually go for a late autumn walk in a nearby county park that has a stream flowing through a wooded preserve. The air is crisp and colors are brilliant, all inspiration for future paintings. The milkweeds are in the going-back-to-the-earth phase of their life cycle. We hope they have nourished the next generation of Monarchs and that the butterflies will return next spring. … so far one inch of snow during this writing.

On Hold  16x20 oil on canvas

Winter Trail  oil on canvas board 9x12

     Michigan’s encouragement of the film industry has had some interesting opportunities for artists. We delivered a dozen paintings to a film shoot and hope to have some of the paintings appear in this full-length feature film.  As artists, we always try to get a good look at those background paintings. If this new adventure does take place as we expect it will, I’ll let folks know. In the meantime, keep looking at the paintings in the background on TV and movies.  … so far one and half inches of the white stuff.

Blue Ice acrylic on paper 22x24

   

     We have received a few very nice comments on the Xanadu Gallery experience, thank you. Several paintings can be viewed in the online Xanadu Gallery, search under artists, then Joel F Ellis. Xanadu has a walk-in gallery as well in Scottsdale Arizona.

    Outreach is an interesting experience. The actual non-painting time of this artist’s life is sometimes challenging, especially trying to get the paintings “out there” for visibility. Speaking of “out there”, the snow is accumulating. Time to get the snow shovel. Oh the price we pay to live in Michigan.

Joel

www.joelellisart.com

Early snow 18x24 acrylic on board

Winter Barn  18x24  acrylic on canvas

For Best Results: Patience Required

        Have you ever started a project and find it is more consuming than you anticipated? Early last year, as the weather was warming, a large 48”by 60” canvas came my way. It sat for a few weeks until the weather was perfect to paint outside. On a designated day, the deck was prepared for the project because the studio is too small to handle big paintings. Inspiration got the paint moving but like some efforts it just did not work out.

       The big oil painting had lots of thick paint piled on but not in a pleasing artistic manner. It was stored in the studio through the next year. Again the large surface came out for another go. This time the studio was made more spacious and the canvas was set on risers. To paint the lower third I sat on a small bench and later got down on the floor with paint brush in hand. For the first time I experienced a sense of the effort and great work applied to the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. I was humbled my meager attempts. Again the outcome was unsatisfactory and I tucked the big canvas away for a later day.

       In early autumn this year the painting called me back for another attempt. Some furniture was removed from the studio making more space for you know what, yes, the big canvas. This time the tea and music fit perfectly. The mood was right. Now to get the previous under paintings to work with me. The stormy sky appeared with some previous texture showing. Soon mist and trees played nicely together creating a mysterious sense of peace. Next I revisited the foreground, not too much, just a little defining of shapes. 

Highland Ridge  60" h x 48"w oil on canvas

       Wow, could it be that all elements finally came together? Yes, after more than a year and three starts Highland Ridge with its forest moods through texture and color emerged. Visitors to the studio have confirmed my positive feeling for this work. I am so glad I did not destroy the canvas out of frustration. St. Francis is reported to have told us, “Have patience with all things, but, first of all with yourself.” 

       Thank you for visiting my blog on the life of an artist. Please be sure to check the website, www.joelellisart.com, and work on the Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale Arizona.

Joel             

Joel Ellis in Xanadu Gallery

Hello – Welcome to Fall! Marc Chagall gives one of the important lessons of art, “All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.”  My color wheel is almost worn out. Time to get another and study once again the friends and lovers in the scheme of color.

Traverse Morning  15 x 18  oil on canvas

        Color is an important part of my paintings exhibited online in the Xanadu Gallery website, www.xanadugallery.com , under artists in the menu find the work under Ellis, Joel. I am excited about this new outreach of my work and hope you will check it out. Also new work is presented on my own website, www.joelellisart.com

       I hope you are able to enjoy this beautiful colorful season.

Joel

Earth Cycle  18 x 24  acrylic on linen, currently in online exhibit of Xanadu Gallery 

Why Do We Buy Art?

        Motivation is a typical subject for folks in the arts. We often hear, “Where did you get the inspiration for that painting?” There is another side of inspiration to consider, what motivates the buyer of art.

First we buy - that landscape, then another - and before we are aware of it we have a full blown obsession.           We have become art collectors or more precisely, collectors of art that we must have to complete that feeling of something deep inside us, something that makes us feel really good. Art collector is a term that implies collecting more for investment than affection.

        What motivates collecting art is a topic way beyond my understanding. My close brush with collecting art came a few years ago when we were in an antique shop and spotted a beautiful etching of a winter scene. I just had to have it and so I paid the asking price of about ten dollars. It was mine, all mine.  I was so happy until I went to another shop and found the same print. Two prints of the same subject?  Of course, it’s a print. Seeing the second print wasn’t as much fun as finding the first. That’s when I realized that maybe collecting is because we like the thrill of the discovery and the stories of the conquests.

Spring Gold 16x20 oil on linen

       About the same time as the great winter scene find, we were collecting/rescuing old art pieces found in unusual places like roadside trash day pickups, yard sales and second hand stores. We felt rather noble about our mounting collection. It “mounted” in the back of closets and under beds, to be alternately placed on a wall designated for found art. We received great joy and pleasure from our efforts. Some art treasures could be that lost piece from Vincent or Pablo, but for us, the humble lovers of the arts, we had the fun and adventure of the discovery and the tales of the conquest (plus the burden of the stuffed closest and attic).

       If you too collect art, have fun and if searching for that special piece that makes you say, “Wow, remember when…” then the pleasure of real art and the stories behind the painting on the walls can be motive enough for the prestigious title … art collector. 
       Happy hunting,
Joel   

Summer Celebration 20x30 acrylic on canvas

Randall Wallace, Mozart - What Makes Us Feel

     Screenwriter, Randall Wallace (Secretariat), recently shared advice from his father who was a salesman:  

        “People will almost never remember what you say, and just a little of what you do, but they will remember how you make them feel.” 

  

   Wow… that is some powerful wisdom and why do I bring it up for us to ponder? As artists we make unique contacts with our viewers as we try to reach their inner being.

      Our art is communication be it words, visual or auditory. We are dealing with the senses and that is a big responsibility. The grand propagandists know how to evoke and tap into these emotions. As artists, we are trying to reach this inner human level ourselves and sometimes we are successful. The feeling of success may be when we finish a piece and we step back to see and exclaim, wow that is powerful. 

Quest   40x30  acrylic on canvas

     

     It may be that we have a responsibility to reach for that wisdom of the salesman by keeping the audience in mind and not take this too lightly. After all we are trying to communicate with that sense of feeling in our audience. 

     The last composition Mozart created before his death was Clarinet Concerto in A Major. This is a familiar piece of music that will calm your soul. Clear your mind for just a few minutes, close your eyes and just listen to this wonderful gift. Mozart left us with a masterpiece. We do not think about how he wrote this piece, or what he said about it, we think only of how it makes us feel.

Please check the website, www.joelellisart.com for latest activity on my work.

Best wishes, 

Joel