Pat Ellis’ watercolor paintings depict images as close as Boney Mountain in her backyard and as far away as the icy Alaskan landscape as viewed from a cruise ship.
“Painting enables me to see more clearly,” Ellis says in her artist’s statement. “I am fascinated by the effect of light and shadow on colors and shapes. Seeing brings me joy — capturing those moments is my challenge.”
Ellis is participating in the 7 Women: 7 Visions exhibit that opens Sunday at the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery in Newbury Park.
Ellis took up art after a long career in education. She always enjoyed drawing, she said, although she didn’t have many artistic opportunities growing up in Mission, Texas.
“There were no art classes in our town,” she said.
She majored in elementary education in college and started teaching when she was 20, always decorating the boards and incorporating art into the classroom. She taught for 21 years at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch in Texas, a residential facility for at-risk children.
When an art class she taught was successful, the principal told Ellis he thought the kids would also benefit from a drama class.
“I said, ‘Who would teach it?’ He said, ‘You.’ So I taught drama for about 14 years,” she said. “We won state competitions three times and made it to state many other times.”
During that time she was married, raising three daughters and earning a master’s degree in education. In 1978 the family came to California to visit a former student of hers, Gary Hardy, and his wife.
“Gary offered my husband a job with him and we moved out here,” she said. She taught a class in business English at Moorpark College, then got a full-time job at Colina Middle School and later at Los Cerritos Middle School, both in Thousand Oaks.
She was an adviser for the yearbook and school newspaper at the junior high level, then taught English and journalism for about 19 years at Newbury Park High School.
“The journalism class put out the school paper,” she said. “It was the same as with drama. You work all this extra time together and struggle to get something out, but you really get to know each other.”
Ellis retired in 2001.
“The first thing I did was sign up to be a docent at Gardens of the World and took a Chinese brush-painting class,” she said. She was encouraged by the late Edna Okui, whose brush-painting style she admired, to take watercolor classes from Phyllis Doyon in Camarillo.
“Probably the first thing I did well was painting koi,” she said. “I would watch them at Gardens of the World. They were so beautiful and I would take photos and paint them.” Most of her koi paintings are sold, she said.
“I also did cranes,” she said. “That goes back to the Chinese — they show you how to do them in very few strokes.”
Ellis first participated in art shows while taking the brush-painting classes.
She has participated in Doyon’s annual Splash show for about five years and is a member of the Westlake Village Art Guild and Thousand Oaks Art Association.
Ellis took a second place in the TOAA juried show earlier this year and an honorable mention in the 2009 membership show. She also received best of show honors at the Gardens of the World juried Christmas Show in 2004.
She would like to have more confidence to experiment with different techniques, she said.
“I would like to loosen up, not be so concerned about little details,” she said. “I have a stack of unfinished pieces.”
Another goal is to learn more about portrait painting to paint pictures of the nine grandchildren she shares with her second husband, Elwyn Ellis.
No matter what subject she paints, it’s all about the light, she said.
“I want to capture the light, a scene, a path I want to walk down. I remember when I was still in Texas, I would see colors in a field that I had never seen before,” she said. “I like something that catches my attention and fascinates me. I want to capture the moment and for other people to share those moments.”
The 7 Women: 7 Visions exhibit will run from Sunday through Aug. 15 at the Thousand Oaks Community Gallery, 2331 Borchard Road, Newbury Park. The exhibit also will feature paintings and sculpture by Judith Crowe, Frances Elson, Kathrin Raab-Questenberg, Joy Sardisco, Barbara Shannan and Barbara Welch. A reception is slated from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 8.
