James
Ellis
James Ellis was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1961, and currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota. He began oil painting due to a back injury in 2019, that left him with permanent nerve damage, and as the injury prevented him from physical outdoor activities, he uses his years of travel to the American Southwest, Alaska, and especially Minnesota and the North Shore of Lake Superior, to provide natural composition for his work. Having spent countless hours over the past twenty years exploring the shoreline, hiking the trails and camping in the State Parks, the birch trees, rugged shoreline and waterfalls are all painted in his memory. Hearing the wind rustling the leaves, the waves hitting the shore and the water cascading over rocks, moves him to create.
As a child Ellis had no known artistic talent and only memories of a charcoal drawing in elementary school provided any reference for his talent, not to be discovered until 2019. Self-taught, and with limited instruction from Susan Taylor Tredway, he seeks to honor God’s creation, using the talent that he has been blessed with and follows the painting style rooted in 18th and 19th century realism or naturalism. As the artist explains, “I am a visual story-teller, my brush and palette knife, using the alla prima method, transforms blank canvas into a visual short story, each page preserving a memory."
Ellis’s artwork has been shown in exhibitions in Minnesota and Wisconsin, including the “Art and Photography at the Rock” exhibition at Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minnesota, the “Spirit of the Arts” North Shore Artist League exhibition at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and at the “Living on the Edge” North Shore Artist League exhibition at The Phipps Center for the Arts in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Education
Studied under: Susan Taylor Tredway
Professional Associations & Organizations
North Shore Artists League
Voyageur Artists
Minnesota Artists Association
Artists of Minnesota
Selected Exhibitions
2024 Past and Present - Tettegouche State Park Visitor Center, Silver Bay, Minnesota
2024 Hygee - Warmth of Winter - North Shore Artists League Member Show at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Grand Marais, Minnesota
2024 Northern Landscapes Group Exhibition - MacRostie Art Center Reif Gallery, Grand Rapids, Minnesota
2023 20/20 Lake Superior Art & Studio Tour, Two Harbors, Minnesota
2023 Living on the Edge - The Phipps Center for the Arts, Hudson, Wisconsin
2023 Season of Photography & Art at the Rock, Split Rock Lighthouse, Two Harbors, Minnesota
2023 Abundance - Voyageur Artists Spring Show at the Harbor Rail, Two Harbors, Minnesota
2023 Spirit of the Arts - North Shore Artists League Member Show at the Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery, Grand Marais, Minnesota
2023 Art at Bayfront Park, Duluth, Minnesota
2022 Grand Marais Arts Festival, Grand Marais, Minnesota
Olde Towne Galleries, Duluth, Minnesota
Private Collection, Anchorage, Alaska
Private Collection, Grand Marais, Minnesota
Private Collection, St. Paul, Minnesota
Private Collection, Mendota Heights, Minnesota
Private Collection, Duluth, Minnesota
Private Collection, Bemidji, Minnesota
Private Collection, Maple Grove, Minnesota
Private Collection, Fairbanks, Alaska
Private Collection, South Range, Wisconsin
Private Collection, Leavenworth, Washington
Private Collection, Iowa City, Iowa
Private Collection, Newport, Rhode Island
Private Collection, Polk City, Iowa