Marjorie Ellis loves pretty pictures. And with her artistic eye and God-given talent she takes those pretty pictures, photographs and calendar pages and turns them into acrylic masterpieces. Ellis, 83, who lives in the Kendall area, first picked up her paintbrush in the 1970s and she has been painting ever since. "I took one oil painting class and then just decided that acrylics were for me," she explained. "The acrylics are easy to work with and easy to clean up after." From land and seascapes to brilliant vases of flowers and serene wooded paths, Ellis wields her brush with aplomb. While she likes painting murals, (she used her garage wall as the canvas for a shore scene complete with boater, palm trees and sea gulls), she also works on paintings that are suitable for framing and hanging on one's living room walls. "I think my paintings are in living rooms across the country," she said. Ellis's own walls feature her paintings, some of which are painted on round pieces of wood. Presently, she is working on a painting of a teddy bear family for her great grandson. "I've done hundreds of paintings and I even do requests for friends and family members," she said, adding that she just finished up a painting of two chickens for a friend. "I've gone to a lot of shows with my paintings." It was a painting of purple pansies that started the latest round of interest in her paintings, she said. "I painted these pansies and gave it to my minister's wife and now they want me to bring some of my paintings to the church." She is a member of the Morton Baptist Church. Ellis and her husband owned a store in Newark in the early 1970s. "It was a Bing Stevens store and we had beautiful gifts and a huge art department," she said. "Urban renewal took us out." In an attempt to pass her love of painting along to friends, Ellis urged two of her girlfriends to try their hand at her craft. "My friends, Eleanor Reynolds and Anna Seitmann, don't think they have talent, but they do," she said. In addition to the traditional canvas, Ellis paints on mailboxes and sweatshirts. "My mailbox was knocked down this winter so I just have a white one now ... I think I will have to go out and paint some bright flowers on it," she said. Ellis has five sons, nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren. "I think my biggest thrill was when I saw one of my paintings on my grandson's wall," she said. "I never expected to see it there." In a sun-filled room in her house, Ellis sets up her easel and begins work on her next canvas. The next time you come across a painting bursting with the colors of arranged flowers, an old-fashioned barn with a waterwheel or any number of seascapes or autumn scenes, look for her "Marjolaine" signature in the corner and know you are looking at a Marjorie Ellis original. |
