Ted Ellis (artist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ted Ellis
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Ted Ellis
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| Born | 1963 (age 62) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Self-taught |
| Known for | Visual artist/chemist |
Ted Ellis (born in 1963) is an American artist. He used to be a chemist who studied the environment. He is famous for his art that celebrates African American culture and history. His style mixes folk art, naturalism (making things look real), and impressionism (showing feelings and light).
One of his most famous paintings is of Barack Obama, the 44th President. It was shown during Obama's first inauguration in 2009. Ted Ellis has sold over 1.75 million art pieces! He also works with big companies. He loves helping communities, especially by bringing art to kids' schools.
Contents
About Ted Ellis's Life
Ted Ellis grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana. His dad was a musician, and his mom stayed home. Ted started showing his artistic talent when he was only five years old. In third grade, he drew a dog from a comic book so well that everyone thought he had traced it!
As a kid, he loved drawing Wile E. Coyote. Even now, he enjoys comic books because they are "refreshing." When he was older, Ted would ride the bus alone to downtown New Orleans. He wanted to spend time with the artists there.
He and his friends would often compete to see who could draw the best designs. Ted kept working on his art skills through school. He even went to a summer art program and an after-school program. Ted knew he wanted to be an artist by seventh grade. He thanks his teacher for helping him stay focused.
Ted first worked with charcoal and pastels. Later, he chose to use oil and acrylic paints. He took art classes in high school and had four months of private lessons. Other than that, he taught himself how to paint. His art teacher, Anna Torregano, and his parents told him to get a regular job. They didn't want him to be a "starving artist."
His mother especially wanted him to go to college and get a professional degree. Ted Ellis earned a science degree in chemistry from Dillard University. He got scholarships from the United States Army ROTC and for his good grades. After college, he became a second lieutenant in the Army.
He worked as a chemist for ten years. Eight of those years were as an environmental chemist. Ted has lived in Louisiana and California. He now lives in Friendswood, Texas with his wife, Erania. They have a daughter named Chaney and a son named Tanner.
Ted Ellis's Art Career
Ted Ellis always loved art, even before it was his job. He painted while he was in the Army and as a chemist. He usually worked in his garage studio. His first art jobs were for two co-workers. They wanted to buy a painting he was working on. He said no, but offered to paint two similar ones for them. They bought them for $40 each.
When he was starting out, Ellis had a chance to work for the J. C. Penney catalog. He was too busy then, but he later found success in a similar way. He first sold his prints through Market Arts in Houston. His art career really took off when he saw his wife's Avon magazine. It was for African Americans but had no art.
He sent Avon a plan, and they accepted it. Through the magazine, he sold 42,610 signed prints of his painting Thee Baptism. Since he was still an engineer, he signed all those prints during his lunch breaks!
In 1996, Ellis quit his engineering job. In 1998, he won a competition against 500 other artists. Walt Disney Studios asked him to create art for Black History Month. This artwork was used in the 1999 celebration at Epcot Center. It appeared on T-shirts, mugs, and posters.
His Art Business
Ted Ellis is very good at business. He has sold his art throughout his career. In high school, he and his classmates sold their custom-designed T-shirts. They sold them to students at their school and then across the whole school district.
For over twenty years, Ellis worked hard to build his art business. He looked for people and companies to buy his art. He visited art festivals, conventions, and libraries. He also went to local businesses. He started his own company in 1991. He learned from his time as a chemist that "if you have a quality product and a good way to sell it, you'll succeed."
When he first started, Ellis quickly learned that talent alone wasn't enough. He had to go to 30–40 art galleries before two of them agreed to show his work. One of those galleries later closed. He says that building an art business involves "a lot of marketing, planning, exhibiting and a lot of rejection."
Ted's wife, Erenia, manages his business, "T. Ellis Art, Incorporated." Their studio is in League City, Texas. Ellis has sold over 1.75 million art products across the country. He sells them directly, through galleries, catalogs, and by licensing his art. He also creates partnerships to help communities learn and grow through art. In 2005, he signed with an art licensing agency. This helped him sell his art on home decor, calendars, and clothes.
Ellis has worked with big companies like Walt Disney Studios, Minute Maid, Coca-Cola, Marathon Oil, ExxonMobil, State Farm Insurance, Merck Pharmaceutical, J. C. Penney, and Avon Products. His art has been sold through Army and Air Force catalogs. It was also sold only through Avon's African American Boutique and their main brochures.
One of his first big sales was a painting of a surgeon. The surgeon himself bought the original artwork! Ellis's art has sold for prices from $750 to $30,000. Even with all his success, Ellis now finds joy in "helping others through art."
Hurricane Katrina's Impact
Ted Ellis and his wife are both from New Orleans. Much of his art and his love for art come from this lively city. As a young man, he would explore the colorful French Quarter to find things to paint. After Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage, the city's role in his art changed. It began to show stories of hope and new beginnings.
The night before the storm hit Louisiana, the Ellis home in Texas became a safe place. Ten families from New Orleans, about 50 people, stayed there. After the storm, Ellis helped friends who were stuck outside New Orleans get home. He also got other artists to help with the relief efforts.
Two weeks after the floodwaters went down, Ellis was allowed to enter the city. He went to check on his mother's home and save her belongings. As he traveled through the destroyed houses and empty city, he saw one man fixing his roof. This image deeply affected Ellis. He captured the hope he saw in that man's actions in his painting Surviving Katrina.
The painting shows floodwater trapping a family on their roof. The father holds up the Flag of the United States. To Ellis, this flag means that the nation needs to come together to help those affected by the storm. In another painting, Life Begins Anew, a father holds a baby above floodwaters. Another man reaches out to take the child. Ellis says this scene shows the promise of a new start for those who survived Katrina.
His collection, Katrina: The Hope, Healing and Rebirth of New Orleans, was about showing how art can help people heal. He said, "The largest piece I did is about how life begins anew and how a person can find hope even after such devastation. I want this work to be uplifting, to be a fresh breath of life for the community."
Obama's Portrait
One of Ted Ellis's most famous artworks is an abstract painting of Barack Obama. It shows Obama's well-known 'hope' pose. Ellis painted this portrait for Obama's Presidential inauguration in 2008. In Obama, the 44th President, Ellis uses red, blue, yellow, and green acrylic paint. He shows Obama as someone who brings people together, no matter their color, background, or religion.
The painting was shown at a special event on January 19, 2009. This event was held at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.. Money from the signed prints sold at the event helped the NNPA Foundation and Howard University.
African American History in Art
In 2009, Ted Ellis created an exhibit about African-American history. It focused on slavery and freedom. The exhibit was part of the Juneteenth celebration. Juneteenth remembers when slavery ended in Texas. The exhibit was held at the historic home of Henry Stringfellow.
The exhibit had more than 20 paintings. Ellis used brushes and his fingers to paint them. Sometimes, he added collages of old documents. The paintings showed scenes like the transportation of enslaved people. They also showed the work of slavery in farming and the end of slavery.
The painting Free At Last shows Buffalo soldiers and Harriet Tubman. It also includes the year "1865" and a large oak tree. In the background, people are praying. The exhibit also displayed Ellis's famous painting of Barack Obama.
In 2011, Ellis's art was shown at the Rosa Parks Library and Museum. The museum hosted an exhibit called Our History, Heritage, and Culture: An American Story, the Art of Ted Ellis. This was part of their Black History Month celebration.
Ted Ellis has been painting African American life, history, and culture for thirty years. His paintings are in the permanent collections of several museums. These include the DuSable Museum of African American History and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The City of Selma, Alabama, chose Ted Ellis as the official artist for the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday."
The City and County of Galveston, Texas, honored Ted Ellis for the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth. His "Juneteenth Freedom Project" was shown at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have thanked Ted Ellis for his art and generosity.
Ted Ellis's painting of the Tuskegee Airmen, "The Lonely Angels," was signed by all the Tuskegee Airmen who received their Congressional Medal of Honor.
Educational Work
Ted Ellis believes that education is very important. He is involved in many educational projects. He has led many art workshops for children. He helps kids draw and touch up school murals. He and his wife, Erania, read books to children about topics like the Buffalo Soldiers while he illustrates.
When he works with children with autism, he helps them be creative. He creates a setting where there is no wrong way for them to express themselves. He hopes to show their art at the Houston Children's Museum.
He has worked with the Tom Joyner Foundation to raise money for students. His own nonprofit program, "Art with a Purpose," received a government grant. This grant helps students who are facing challenges.
Ellis is an artist-in-residence at a charter school in Galveston, Texas. This program is called "Ambassadors for Art." It helps students learn about art. The program also helped paint a bust (a sculpture of a head and shoulders) of US President Barack Obama. This bust was one of 45 painted by artists across the country. They were shown at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. This project was supported by the Smithsonian Institution.
He has also worked with other art education programs. For example, he donated five original paintings to schools in Peoria, Illinois. Since October 2023, Ellis has been the Director of Florida State University's Civil Rights Institute. This institute connects with students and promotes the history of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
Art Style
Ted Ellis has created art in many styles throughout his career. He has been influenced by several main things. African American history and culture are very important in Ellis's art. He often paints about Buffalo Soldiers, cotton fields, and Jazz music. His Jazz paintings often look like impressionist art.
Other common themes include fishermen and religious scenes. Examples are Thee Baptism and Sunday Worship. He also paints African ethnic scenes like Afrimage. He says his church-related themes come from his experiences at his local church, "Beulah Land Church," with his mother.
While he is best known for his art about people, many of Ellis's pieces are landscapes, seascapes, and portraits. Ted Ellis taught himself how to be an artist. He describes his style as "conventional realism." He also calls it a bold mix of realism and impressionism. He says it's an "old masters'" style that sometimes shows figures and sometimes looks like folk art. He tries to "capture the essence in one stroke."
Ellis has also created the term "Tedism" to describe his style. "Tedism" mixes impressionism, soul, and folk stories to create paintings that show real things. Ted Ellis sees himself as a social, political, and spiritual artist. He is also an educator and a "creative historian." He says, "I paint subjects that are representative of the many facets of American life as I know it."
He adds, "I like to think of myself as a creative historian. I was put here to record history...all aspects of American culture and heritage. My sole purpose has always been to educate through my art." He gets ideas from people's family memories or from history. He says he's "a history buff at heart. I read a lot, and I have more books than paint."
As an artist who focuses on African American history, Ellis chooses not to paint its difficult parts from a place of pain. He says, "I have to be careful what I do [...] there's a power to art. I don't want to be from an angry position. That's out there, and maybe they do that to shake you up and make you think. I want to be one step ahead. When you're talking about healing, you're in the right zone." So, his paintings of slavery and old Southern life focus on positive things like family, character, and church.
Ellis says his love for New Orleans and its rich creative culture influences his art. He compared the city to a place that helps young talent grow. New Orleans offered Ted art clubs and chances to design murals for school. It also gave him access to art classes, summer art programs, and Jackson Square. There, he could talk with many artists.
Ellis's favorite artists include Henry Ossawa Tanner and Jacob Lawrence. Among his own works, his favorite painting is Sunday Worship.
Achievements and Recognition
Ted Ellis and his artwork have been widely recognized and honored. His art was shown in 1992 and 1993 for Black History Month at the Irving Arts Center in Irving, Texas. The 1993 exhibit was called Realism, Symbolism, and Abstraction: Images from the African American Experience.
Ellis was chosen to create the Walt Disney World 1998 Black History Poster. He was also the official artist for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. Ted was an Art Ambassador for the City and County of Galveston, Texas. He celebrated the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth by showing his art at the U.S. Capitol.
His painting The Ivory Coast II was featured on the children's TV show Barney & Friends. In 1997, his African-Americans in Law was shown at New Orleans City Hall. He was named Black Heritage Artist of the Year in 1998 at an art expo in Baltimore. He also painted the poster for PepsiCola, a sponsor of the event.
In 2002, Ellis won the Pallette Award for Impressionism at the Heritage Arts Festival. In 2005, he was named "Entrepreneur of the Year" by the National Black Chamber of Commerce.
The Amistad Research Center at Tulane University recognized Ted Ellis as a historical artist in 2005. They held a week-long exhibit of his paintings at the Audubon Zoo. Ellis donated two paintings to the center: We Are Americans (2002) and The Struggle Continues (2003). He also chose the center to keep his papers and a yearly donation of his art.
Ellis was featured at a Houston City Council meeting. The mayor, Bill White, declared May 23, 2006, "Ted Ellis Day." This was to honor Ellis's contributions as a leading African American artist. The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin, Texas, hosted Ellis's exhibit, Say My Name, in 2006.
In 2007, Ellis's work was shown at the "Embrace: the Fine Art Fair." He was also featured in the "11th Annual Citywide African American Art Exhibition" at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. He was honored by the National Black MBA Association in 2007.
Several of Ellis's works are in the permanent collections of museums. These include the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. A "Ted Ellis Day" was declared on February 21, 2009, by the mayor of Midland, Texas. In 2009, the Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce gave Ted Ellis an award for his successful art business.
In 2010, the New Orleans African American Museum recognized Ellis as an Art Ambassador. They hosted an exhibit of his work called "Sumpt'n to See, Native Son Comes Home." Ellis has been recognized by the Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, and other important leaders.
The Louisiana State Senate also praised Ellis in 2012 for his achievements. He has been featured at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. He won the Grand Prize at the Fairhope Arts Festival. He was also honored as the "Official Artist" of the 2006 Essence Music Festival.
Ellis often speaks at events for Avon and other companies. Ted Ellis's art has been bought by famous people like Bryant Gumbel, Angela Bassett, and Brad Pitt. In 2017, the Senate of the State of Texas honored Ted Ellis for his exhibit "Pride, Dignity and Courage: celebrating African-American History and Culture."
Charity Work
Ted Ellis is involved with many good causes and charities. These include United Way, African American Visual Arts Association, and the United Negro College Fund. He was the featured artist for the Big Brothers Big Sisters fundraiser gala in 2012. He also partners with the Houston Child Protective Services Black History Program.
Views on African American Art
In an article, Ted Ellis encourages younger black artists. He wants them to remember how hard the previous generation of black artists worked. Their efforts made it easier for new artists to succeed.
He believes that African American art is still not fully part of the mainstream art world. He also thinks that current black artists, even though they are good at business, still earn less than they should. Ellis also feels that the academic world doesn't pay enough attention to this type of art.
He strongly believes that African Americans should value their art on their own terms. They should look beyond just how it looks. He thinks this is the only way for the art style to grow and be better appreciated.
Featured as Cover Art
- Go Down Old Hannah: the Living History of African American Texans by Naomi Mitchell Carrier ISBN: 0-2927224-2-7
- They Dance Alone by Christine LeVeaux (2005) ISBN: 0-9764844-0-4
- Harlem Renaissance by Ella O. Williams ISBN: 1-4343814-0-4
- National Medical Association journal covers
- Summer 2007, Volume 99, Number 12
- December 2008, Volume 100, Number 12
- January 2010, Volume 102, Number 1
- National Directory of African American Organizations 2001–2003 Philip Morris Co. (Keep the Dream Alive)
- Worship in the House was asked for by Integrity Music to be used as a CD cover.
- Beyond the Blues: Reflections of African America in the Fine Arts Collection of the Amistad Research Center (The Struggle Continues)
- 2006 South Central Region Jack and Jill of America cookbook
- The Ensemble Theatre's 2008 production of Radio Golf playbill cover.
Works
Gallery
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Cotton Pickers, 16x20, original, 1998
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Buffalo Soldiers, 15x30, original, 2001
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The Lonely Angels, 15x30, original, 2003
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My Old Quilt, 40x30, original, 2008
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Bloody Sunday, original
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Walt Disney Black Heritage Celebration, original
Art Series
- Champions of Justice - 1996
- Justice: Collection of Artwork inspired by the Legal Profession – New Orleans City Hall, 1999
- Capturing Our Heritage – University of Texas Medical Branch Moody Medical Library, Galveston, 2001
- Born in the Spirit – Penn State Harrisburg Library, 2003
- Katrina: The Hope, Healing and Rebirth of New Orleans – National Bar Association, 2005
- Courage of Conviction: African Americans Serving in the Military from Colonial Time to the President of the U.S. – Stone Mountain Park, 2008/09
- American Slavery: The Reason Why We Are Here – The Beach Institute, Savannah, Georgia 2009
- Sumptin' to See: Native Son Comes Home – New Orleans African American Museum 2010
- Our History, Heritage and Culture: An American Story, the art of Ted Ellis – Rosa Parks Museum 2010
- Medicine and Art: Telling Our Story, Yale School of Medicine
