The Bluestone Review 2020

The Bluestone Review 2020

Interview with Ellen Elmes

continue on my adventures and grow as a person. It was like I had come full circle at that moment. S.S.: What is the one thing you would like your readers and fellow art connois- seurs to learn from your work? E.E.: It’s not what I want them to learn, it’s what I hope they relate to. Art is an exchange, a language. I could make all the art I want, but if no one can be on the other side looking at my art and relating to something, it would be pointless. Once I did a painting inspired by my mom when she was in the midst of her Alzheimer’s disease. I was confused about my relationship with her at that point. I was becoming the parent, and she the child. So, I painted throughout that time as a way to understand what I was experiencing, and I found that I understood and related to my mother most in those moments. That painting was actually in an exhibit, and most of the people in attendance talked to me about how they understood the paining and how it related to their experience with someone who had Alzheimer’s – that is the core of what art is about. A sharing of ideas, and experiences is what makes our experiences valid as human beings. Fascist gov- ernments in the past have tried to hide the art – or take it out of the public eye. They know it can sway people… make them more aware of themselves. S.S.: Why do watercolors interest you particularly? Would you say it is your favorite form of painting? E.E.: Yes, I use acrylics of course when I do murals – narratives, historic, re- search. However, I like to say that watercolor is my soul painting, I learned them in college, and all I knew up to that point was oil painting, which was okay – but the spontaneity of watercolors is what drew me in. You have to move fast, and you can’t really plan for anything, because things happen in a process. Normally I go into it with a theme in mind, but watercolors sort of make things happen on the paper that lead me to other things. It has a freshness, flow, and spontaneity. S.S.: Is there anything else you would like to add to this interview? If so, please feel free! E.E.: You mentioned watercolor, and though, as I said, that is my “soul paint- ing,” I have also been a muralist since the 1980s. It has been so impactful. It was unexpected how I came into it, but I wouldn’t have been able to do the things I’ve done without it. Murals are a narrative of ourselves. I think being a muralist allows me to capture the moments in history, keep them relative. So, being able to capture that and get such a response is truly wonderful. I am so appreciative of my home, my region, and the people residing in it.

Visit Ellen Elmes’s website at https://www.ellenelmes.com

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