Natural Rhythms is a work that my husband and I have kept for many years to remind us of our family’s many trips out west. These camping trips lasted sometimes a month to six weeks and we called it “our adventure,” never knowing where we were headed from one day to the next, instead, letting ourselves discover as we went along. This painting actually began in my mind before leaving our wooded mountaintop, as I was exploring the scalloped funguses that grow attached to rotted tree trunks and often produce beautifully colored and striped patterns on their surfaces. I was surprised to discover those same colorful patterns in the Badlands rock formations when we reached North Dakota one summer. As we later visited Native American culture museums, those same colors and patterns again surfaced in the woven skirts and shawls of the Indian women. I love to paint about the inspiration of nature on the human imagination.
Ellen Elmes
PO Box SVCC
Richlands, VA 24641-1101
email: ellen.elmes@sw.edu
phone: 276.964.7205
fax: 276.964.7720