John David Ellis
John David Ellis studied art during the 1950s at the Art Students
League in New York City, continuing to live and to paint in New York
until 1985.
He then moved to the state of Maine, first to a tiny fishing village
and later to a larger town where he built a studio especially suited
for his works, many of which are large in size. He now divides his
year between the U.S.A. and Europe, where he continues his work in the
Black Forest of Germany.
His paintings are completely abstract and have no easily identifiable
subject content. Therefore, when asked by Moritz Egetmeyer to paint a
series of cards on the subject "circus" quot, he declined, replying
that no matter what theme he started with, it was bound to turn out
abstract.
He did, however, suggest a deck of cards consisting of completely abstract
subjects, the meanings of which would then be supplied by each individual
viewer. Egetmeyer thought this a worthwhile exploration and the results
became what is now published as the ECCO cards.
The name ECCO, incidentally, was suggested by Ellis´ life companion,
Joan Beauregard, who, like Ellis, has painted professionally for more
than forty years.
