I think as an artist, my perspective on life is rather idealistic...I like to see the good in things; I like to hope for the better, and so I naturally represent this perspective in my work.
This painting began with my interest in a terra cotta statue situated on top of a bank building in Aberdeen. She represents the goddess Ceres, who is, in Greek mythology, the goddess of plenty, of agriculture, of charity and well-being. And across from this statue, is the Salvation Army Building, from which I utilized the crescent shaped iron grillwork of its doorway for the background of the Ceres statue in this painting. The hands folded, one over another, are taken from the Scottish fifty-pence piece, in an attempt here to further emphasize the ideal of charity, which we found to be a prevalent focus of the Aberdeen citizenry.
The American counterpart of idealism is best represented, in my opinion, by the image of the Statue of Liberty symbolizing our basic belief in welcoming people from other backgrounds to our democratic shores. I put the two together but, of course, these are ideals that do not always take shape. But we can aspire to make them realities, on both side of the Atlantic, and so I end on this positive note having been encouraged by a year of fresh insight. This painting is owned by Rosemary Lotito.
Ellen Elmes
PO Box SVCC
Richlands, VA 24641-1101
email: ellen.elmes@sw.edu
phone: 276.964.7205
fax: 276.964.7720