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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).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.