Ellen Demel Deck - Watercolors - Acrylics

Artist Statement

Each time I sit down to paint, I am reminded of the lineage of artists who precede me, including those from my family. I am a third generation artist. My maternal Grandfather began painting as a sign-painter in New York and New Jersey, after immigrating to the United States from the Ukraine. My Mother, Ruth Demel has been an accomplished Watercolorist, for over 60 years. As a child, I played alongside her, as she taught me how to draw, use pastels, and paint with watercolors.

I studied Fine Arts at Adephi University, and then went on to receive my B.A. in Art History from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After moving to California in 1970, I worked at several San Francisco and East Bay Galleries. It was important to me to find instructors whose styles resonated with my own. I was very fortunate in working with extraordinary teachers here in Marin County. I am especially grateful for what I have learned from Nell Melcher, Leah Schwartz and Birgit O’Connor.

Since childhood I have had a strong interest in and appreciation for color, light and Universal Patterns. I remember looking at my hand while sitting at the beach and being so deeply moved in recognizing the same colors there as in the sand beneath me; softest red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. And then the equal excitement of Universal Patterns: the same lines seen in the palm of my hand echo throughout nature as veins in each leaf, tributaries of every river. The vision of nature’s curves and waves everywhere and in everything continue to inspire me as much today as that first day of discovery at Stinson Beach.

Many years of spiritual unfolding have deeply enhanced my vision of color, detail, pattern and light. It is my experience that creative process and unfolding stem from deep inner silence and stillness. Sitting quietly, I follow that internal creative thread, which increasingly seems to know which color, stroke and line are called for here and now. Painting without a plan, I find great pleasure as paint, water and brush dance their own dance