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Adrift
Jaime Ellsworth - New Paintings
Jaime Ellsworth
June 8, 2011 - July 10, 2011
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

         

Simple forms are consistent in all of Ellsworth's artwork where she enjoys working in series offering relationships, discovery and contrasts.  She creates visual situations from everyday experiences and observations.  

  

"Although I begin with a clear idea of what I am trying to achieve the paintings actually emerge from what I already know and what I learn along the way.  Each new series directs the path I take and the journey is welcomed. "

Jaime Ellsworth's paintings are often built of many thin layers of oil bar starting with a limited palette of bold colors on large canvases or wood panels.  Subsequent layers allow the under paint to peek through and transparent glazes give the final surface a subtle tint.

With each work, she invites the viewer to first look at the simplicity of the image and then beyond, opening the door to the imagination.

  

The Black Dog Story

By Jaime Ellsworth

  

This is the story of Pagau and his paintings.  Pagau was born in China and was rescued as a tiny puppy by my daughter who was teaching in a poor, rural area of Hunan Province.  To spare his life, she purchased him for several Yuan or two American dollars and found herself the owner of a puppy in an area with no veterinarians, pet shops or even pet food for hundreds of miles.  After many suggestions, her students named him Pagau which means black dog in Mandarin Chinese.  She raised him on pork, vegetables and rice and a few care packages from family.

Over the next few months it became apparent that getting him home to the US would not be easy but Nicky took on the challenge and after traveling hundreds of miles and zigzagging all around China for official papers to be stamped, Pagau and Nicky finally made it to Beijing for his final agricultural inspection with just hours to spare before their flight home. After 60 hours of traveling on buses, trains, airplanes, taxis and finally a ferry to the San Juan Islands in Washington State, he arrived home at last with his head held high and tail wagging and was then just five months old.

He happily settled into his new home and it wasn't long before we noticed he was growing up to look exactly like an imaginary dog I had been painting for about a year.  I began to observe and paint Pagau's moments of contemplation and his story now unfolds visually through his discoveries.  There are now over sixty paintings in the series and I donate many to animal welfare organizations for fund raising events in hopes that our good fortune can be shared by others as well.  

                    

Sun Up
40 x 30 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Bend
60 x 48 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Right Left
48 x 48 Inches  Oil on Board
 Sold
Bounce - Pagau Series
40 x 30 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Flight
40 x 30 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Star Ferry
40 x 30 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Dinghy
40 x 30 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Here in this House
48 x 48 Inches  Oil on Canvas
 Sold
Water Bowl
32 x 48 Inches  Oil on Board
 Sold
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