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August Issue 2004

Waterfront Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Victoria Platt Ellis

The Waterfront Gallery in Charleston, SC, is presenting the exhibition, All Around Town, featuring works by Victoria Platt Ellis, on view from Aug. 7 - 31, 2004.

Ever since Victoria Platt Ellis was a little girl drawing with a stick in the dirt at the foot of her rural front porch steps, she has been fascinated with fitting shapes together to make designs. Every large or small element within a painting is part of the puzzle that comes together to form the design of the artwork. Like all artists, she evolves through various stages in her artwork. In some periods, interested in light, some in color, some in perspective.

"I paint as I live: in bits and pieces, says Ellis. "To some it's an ordinary flaw, to others its a great discipline! I'm certain the pigments, brushes, pencils and papers have no objection. It would please me inordinately if you were intrigued with my work and the process."

"The constant in these pieces is my love of the ordinary! Ordinary scenes recorded on paper. To involve the viewer; much as a good writer involves the reader, is the goal, says Ellis, adding. "I find the 'feeling' I have about these paintings always surpasses the way I paint it! The image that was in my head, is never quite what come from the tip of the brush. For instance, in the piece, All Around the Town, I was trying to record the movement of the bus, how it's weight and the lay of the land determines how it rests. How the people stand as they wait, even the location of the bus stop is important to making the whole image work."

"Another piece, Seven AM, is an attempt to record the casualness by which we sometimes live in the Southeast, says Ellis. "No one is in a particular hurry. Some have even stopped to pass a friendly word on their way. The painting did not happen as you see it. It is part of my process to incorporate from several references. Here about five to seven references have been used. Unlike OK Grocery, where by some stroke of luck, it was there, just waiting to be painted."

There are nine pieces to date in this on-going series: some in watercolor and some in oil.

Ellis has studied in workshops with many prominent artists, but is principally self-taught and has developed her own distinctive style. The techniques, palette, joie de vivre, and obvious enjoyment in the works' creation make an Ellis painting stand out. "As to credentials, today I wear the hat of organizer, tomorrow, gardener, or cook - but always painter!," says Ellis.

Continuing to grow as an artist is every painter's desire and Ellis continually explores new ways of expressing her talent. Other themes will appear as her work develops even further, but the basics of design, light, and color will always remain dominant in her painting. There are no deep, mysterious, psychological meanings that these scenes are supposed to portray. They are beautiful paintings that pleased and thrilled the artist to execute. She hopes you enjoy them too.

For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/722-1155 or at (www.waterfrontgallery.com).


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