by Godfrey J. Ellis – 12×16 Acrylic Sep 2019 This, the first public performance by one of my grandsons, 15-year-old Simon, took place at the Olympia Farmer’s Market in July of 2019. We were proud of him not only for his excellent music but also for his courage to perform in public for the first […]
Category: Portraits
In the Cooking Pot
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 1992 This painting was done in 1992 as a joke for my niece Christina. I was then 42 years old. Christina’s son, Tyler, had crawled into a cooking pot that was sitting on the ground by their tent when they were camping in a mountain retreat. She shared a snapshot […]
Torn Knees (Ellis)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – Acrylic 1990 The source photo of 10-year-old Braden Ellis was taken when he was sitting on the porch of the Huntamer family home in Lacey, Washington in 1990. We thought it was very cute. Braden is now a father of 3 including a 13-year-old. This was painted long before torn […]
Joseph Fielding Smith
by Godfrey J. Ellis – oil 1970 This painting of the prophet of the time, Joseph Fielding Smith, was the first true portrait that I can remember painting. I was a 21-year-old missionary in France when I painted it for the contacting boards that my missionary companion, John Horejs, and I were building. It came […]
The Banjo Lesson (Ellis)
by Godfrey J. Ellis – Oils 9×12 1970 This small painting of my brother, Barry Ellis and his daughter Tania, is dated 1970. Since, I was on my mission from 1969 to 1971, it is likely that my mother sent me the reference photo (dated 1969) and that I painted it at the same time […]
Display Boards for Street Contacting
by Godfrey J. Ellis – oil 1970 As my story explains (see “By” on this website), I have enjoyed art as long as I can remember. I dabbled with art off and on throughout my youth, although little to none of that work survives today. At 21 years old, I left home for two years […]
The Ordination
by Godfrey J. Ellis – 9×9 Vermiculite sculpture, 1966 or 1967 This is the earliest piece of art that I still have. It was made in high school, likely in 1966. It was made of vermiculite that was poured into a mold and then carved. It was meant to be Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery […]