James Ellison

Biography

Born in Chicago on September 24, 1948, to Olaf and Marguerite Ellison and raised in Downers Grove, Illinois at the age of 41/2, I was bitten by a Tsetse flie contracting Encephalitis Lethargica. My fever rose to 108o and I was in a coma for 6 weeks. My brain was wiped clean. The doctors gave my parents little hope, saying I would be severely retarded. My parents refused to accept this diagnosis and brought me home from with my mother becoming my physical therapist and tutor. Demanding full inclusion for me, I entered kindergarten 6 months late. My mother taught me two important things; a disability is not an excuse but a reason to try harder and I was spared for a purpose, which God would reveal.
In first grade the teacher assigned an art project, seeing a postcard of the Statue of Liberty she had I asked if I could draw it. The teacher, amazed by my drawing, kept after my parents to take me to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago for art lessons. My parents could not afford it so, my mother took me to The Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago as often as she could finding a local private art teacher for me and my earliest artwork was of nature. Two incidents convinced me I wanted to be an artist: First a visit to the Art Institute where my mother had me walk through a narrow door. To the right was a maze of dots. I asked my mother, "What is this mess?" She told me to turn my back on it, walk to the other side of the room and turn around. Then I saw Seurat's A Sunday on La Grande Jatte and I wanted to make something appear out of nothing. Second a church event where Warner Sallman demonstrated and talked about art and faith and I wanted to inspire people with my art.
I went to college receiving my B.F.A, M.A. & M.F.A. Afterwards I was the Director of the Beverly Art Center, School of the Arts and taught at South Holland Community College in Illinois. Later I went to seminary received my M.Div., served as a Pastor for twelve years, until I understood I was to reach people through my art. So, I combined my divinity work with cultural anthropology and Jungian psychology in the use of color, line, shape and page placement in my artwork calling it Symbolic-Realism. I taught art at Nogales High School in La Puente California, copyrighted and published The Perceptual Color Corona, a revolutionary color system, shown my art in national and international shows, won many awards, received two honorary titles. My work has appeared in many publications and twenty-two of my paintings have been published as signed and numbered limited editions
My artwork can be seen in the Pomona Valley Art Association Co-op Gallery SOHO in Montclair Place, Montclair, CA., and online at ellisonjamesb.com, instagram.com/ellisonjamesb/ and pvaaonline.myshopify.com/collections/james-ellison.

Artist Statement

As an artist and ordained minister, I bring to my work a unique blend of aesthetics, Christian theology, psychology and creativity. I believe that we are all created in the image of God thus we are by nature good, but life has wounded, imprisoned or burdened our spirits. God is present reaching out to us, but we often miss it because our senses have become dulled. So, I have committed myself to the communication of this divine presence. My desire is that people in seeing my artwork experience my struggles and celebrations resonating with their own joys and sorrows stirring their spirits and inspiring them to seek out new possibilities.
To do this I have chosen to be a Symbolic-Realist working in both oil & pastel media. Symbolic-Realism is the intentional psychological use of color, line, shape & placement of things in the artwork to communicate meaning on a subconscious level using basic human understanding and is not subject to cultural or historical limitations. Because it is on a subconscious level, I write artistic statements to bring the meaning to a conscious level.
Also, I have chosen to use the style of Super-Realism because I want the image to look so real you feel you can walk right into the painting. This I do not only with taking the time to paint things in detail, but I also seek to do what a camera cannot do. First by using clash and discord to create the illusion of three-dimensionality as well as capture the colors in reflected light by. But for this to work I relied on research of the impressionists and optical science, creating what I call the “Perceptual Color Corona” which uses the negative after-image of each color so that so that the complementary colors are different, tilting the ordinary color wheel.
Finally, because I see the Devine presence in nature, I look to nature for my subject matter by hiking the mountains, foothills & rugged shores or hire a boat to take me offshore looking for scenes that speak to me. When possible, I come back with my backpack French easel. If working in pastel, I go back 6-8 times to finish. If I am working in oil I sketch and begin my painting on location & take photos to work from in my studio as it will often take me 9 to 12 months to finish. But when I am not able to come back, I rely totally on photos which I take: first from different perspectives and angles to record the volume and depth. Secondly at periodic times of the day to catch the shifting light and shadows. Though Super-Realistic in style I will subtly change an object’s position in the image to communicate a specific message about life.

Country USA

Website https://www.ellisonjamesb.com