IOWA , OHIO Scott Daniel Ellison
I O WA , O H I O S C O T T DA N I E L E L L I S O N
M AG I C A L T H I N K I N G P U B L I S H I N G N E W YO R K
I O WA , O H I O S C O T T DA N I E L E L L I S O N
M AG I C A L T H I N K I N G P U B L I S H I N G N E W YO R K
“ PA I N T I N G A YA R N”
This season I have been writing a short story with my nine-year old niece, Estelle
an occasional tree or mound sprouting from it) Scott’s animals seem perched
Luna. For more than a few months we have been passing back and forth between
between wildness and domesticity; they embody our twenty- first century
us words and sentences and paragraphs, sharing characters and plot lines. Usually
connection with animals (which is tenuous at best) where we think we can chat
I manage to pen one paragraph before sending our developing tale back to Estelle.
with a bear in our backyard or take family snapshots with bison in an open field.
I try to use loads of animated adjectives to inspire this young and earnest writer:
But if we do any of these things we may discover the unbridled nature of Wild
she tends to send back two paragraphs. We were well into our imaginary fable
Life. The artist’s preferred modest scale intensifies this tension between wildness
featuring kingdoms at war, death defying encounters with nature, wayward
and distance, domesticity and intimacy.
princesses, estranged sisters and flying carpets when I realized that we were crafting with words a Scott Daniel Ellison painting.My introduction of a princess
While he continues these portraits— animal character studies resembling
pigmented the color of collard greens was—I thought— a genius move on my
passport photographs — as of late the artist has also started to tackle more
part, until I recognized that a fairy tale quality in Scott’s paintings had interfered
complex compositions in which his anxious creatures collide with gossamer
heartily with this aunt/niece experiment in fiction.
ghosts and spooky people in layered landscapes that feel swampy or woodsy. With all of this action the artist’s style and mood becomes hallucinogenic and
Scott Daniel Ellison’s paintings are an ideal source of inspiration as they capture
otherworldly. His eerie and peculiar paintings remind one of ghost stories and
our robust imagination. Quickly tapping into his boyhood forest adventures as
fairy tales from our childhood where fears linger, intriguing and paralyzing
well as adult interests in Nordic fairy tales and late-night horror films, Ellison
young readers. Some children cannot refuse the allure to travel into the woods or
makes homespun paintings featuring gawky people, dicey landscapes, and
the temptation to say hi to a stranger or approach an unknown animal.Ellison’s
woodsy creatures. His fur-bearing animals are of a North American breed we
painted world is populated with transgressive moments like these.
rarely think about in post-modern cities: weasels and badgers, raccoons and wolverines. Like some traditions of portraiture Ellison’s animals stand frontal
Fairy tales and ghost stories are made of this dual desire — intrigue and fear.
facing the viewer, the receding landscape absent of much activity. Privileging
Scott Daniel Ellison’s paintings dwell in this place. Estelle’s and my story aims
them as subject, the artist arrests and freezes their pose, conveying a sense of
to enter it too.
surprise by the encounter. Because the paintings are barren of much nature (usually a plain horizon line defines the break between earth and sky with
— B RO O K E DAV I S A N D E R S O N , JA N UA RY 2 013
“ PA I N T I N G A YA R N”
This season I have been writing a short story with my nine-year old niece, Estelle
an occasional tree or mound sprouting from it) Scott’s animals seem perched
Luna. For more than a few months we have been passing back and forth between
between wildness and domesticity; they embody our twenty- first century
us words and sentences and paragraphs, sharing characters and plot lines. Usually
connection with animals (which is tenuous at best) where we think we can chat
I manage to pen one paragraph before sending our developing tale back to Estelle.
with a bear in our backyard or take family snapshots with bison in an open field.
I try to use loads of animated adjectives to inspire this young and earnest writer:
But if we do any of these things we may discover the unbridled nature of Wild
she tends to send back two paragraphs. We were well into our imaginary fable
Life. The artist’s preferred modest scale intensifies this tension between wildness
featuring kingdoms at war, death defying encounters with nature, wayward
and distance, domesticity and intimacy.
princesses, estranged sisters and flying carpets when I realized that we were crafting with words a Scott Daniel Ellison painting.My introduction of a princess
While he continues these portraits— animal character studies resembling
pigmented the color of collard greens was—I thought— a genius move on my
passport photographs — as of late the artist has also started to tackle more
part, until I recognized that a fairy tale quality in Scott’s paintings had interfered
complex compositions in which his anxious creatures collide with gossamer
heartily with this aunt/niece experiment in fiction.
ghosts and spooky people in layered landscapes that feel swampy or woodsy. With all of this action the artist’s style and mood becomes hallucinogenic and
Scott Daniel Ellison’s paintings are an ideal source of inspiration as they capture
otherworldly. His eerie and peculiar paintings remind one of ghost stories and
our robust imagination. Quickly tapping into his boyhood forest adventures as
fairy tales from our childhood where fears linger, intriguing and paralyzing
well as adult interests in Nordic fairy tales and late-night horror films, Ellison
young readers. Some children cannot refuse the allure to travel into the woods or
makes homespun paintings featuring gawky people, dicey landscapes, and
the temptation to say hi to a stranger or approach an unknown animal.Ellison’s
woodsy creatures. His fur-bearing animals are of a North American breed we
painted world is populated with transgressive moments like these.
rarely think about in post-modern cities: weasels and badgers, raccoons and wolverines. Like some traditions of portraiture Ellison’s animals stand frontal
Fairy tales and ghost stories are made of this dual desire — intrigue and fear.
facing the viewer, the receding landscape absent of much activity. Privileging
Scott Daniel Ellison’s paintings dwell in this place. Estelle’s and my story aims
them as subject, the artist arrests and freezes their pose, conveying a sense of
to enter it too.
surprise by the encounter. Because the paintings are barren of much nature (usually a plain horizon line defines the break between earth and sky with
— B RO O K E DAV I S A N D E R S O N , JA N UA RY 2 013
FOR LUK AS
FOR LUK AS
White Bat, 2012
White Bat, 2012
Crate, 2012
Crate, 2012
Bridge, 2012
Bridge, 2012
Moth, 2012
Moth, 2012
Mask, 2013
Mask, 2013
Cauldron, 2012
Cauldron, 2012
Weasel, 2012
Weasel, 2012