Ellen Kantro Art
Throughout an eclectic career that ranged from graphic design, event management, video operations, software development and live theatre, Ellen Kantro was always an after-hours artist. When she reached the point where her day job was taking too much time away from painting, she mustered the courage to leave her role as a corporate executive and now she is painting full-time.
Ellen finds inspiration in many places – but in abandoned buildings and distressed surfaces in particular. She is influenced by the patterns of decay, and how nature’s elements and the passage of time re-shape our surroundings.
Ellen Kantro begins each new painting by applying something (anything!) onto the surface. Whether simple marks, paper, or random color blocks, each element informs the next, and the process becomes largely intuitive. Layers of paint and paper are laid down, scraped off and painted over until a history develops. Each element that she adds (or removes) creates a problem that she needs to solve, and that is when the challenge of creating really takes hold.
Ellen enjoys building up and obliterating layer after layer, and what emerges is always unpredictable and open to interpretation.
Many of her paintings incorporate typographical elements. Numbers, characters, cursive hand lettering, or foreign alphabets are obscured under layers of paint to be found when you least expect to see them.
“I try to create pieces that have a vocabulary or history to them. The people who buy my work are usually not looking for “decor” per se, but a work that has some degree of intrigue and depth – and of course one that will work in their home.
My paintings always evolve from the process. I often admire those who can plan out a painting but that has rarely been the case for me. I am influenced by dilapidated buildings, and the way time and nature’s elements alter our surroundings. Rust, peeling paint, and cracked surfaces all suggest a forgotten past to them that I try to evoke in my work, and I love the never-ending variety of elements and textures that I can layer into a single piece.” – “Meet Ellen Kantro,” CanvasRebel
Ellen Kantro also does commission work and offers workshops.
Exhibits and Awards:
CURRENT AND UPCOMING:
January 27-28, 2024 – The 21st Annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, FL
Collectors Gallery – 114 Nokomis Avenue, Venice, FL
Chasen Galleries – 1830 S. Osprey Avenue, Sarasota, FL
Towles Court Art Center – 1938 Adams Lane, Sarasota, FL
Venice Art Center Gift Shop – Original paintings, prints and cards – 390 Nokomis Ave. South, Venice, FL
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
Featured Artist – Canvas Rebel – Stories and Insights – October 2023
Featured Artist – Voyage Tampa Magazine – January 2023
Featured Artist – Artist Intersection – October 2021
Featured Artist – Scene Magazine, Sarasota, FL, July/August 2021
Merit Award – Onward and Upward, Art Center Sarasota, 2020
First Place Award – The Tiny Show, Venice Art Center, Venice, FL, 2020
Honorable Mention – New Views, Art Center Sarasota, 2019
Honorable Mention – Natural Selection, Art Center Sarasota, 2019
Award of Excellence – Estero Fine Art Show, Fort Myers, FL, 2019
PAST SHOWS, GALLERIES and EXHIBITIONS
2023 – Art Center Sarasota – Juried Exhibition: An Abstract View
2023 – Hado-Mark Gallery – Lenox, MA
2023 – Nan Miller Gallery – Rochester, NY
2023 – Art Center Sarasota – Juried Exhibition: Large Scale Works
2023 – Voilá Fine Art – Venice, FL
2023 – 35th Annual Las Olas Art Fair Part II, Fort Lauderdale, FL
2023 – Creative Liberties – Gallery Artist
2023 – 35th Annual Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts, Sarasota, FL
2023 – 20th Annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, FL
2022 – Mara Gallery – JUSTIFIED + ANCIENT, Sarasota, FL
2020-2022 – Art Uptown Gallery – Main Street, Sarasota, FL
2022 – Women Contemporary Artists – Group show, Ringling College of Art and Design
2022 – 34th Annual Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts
2022 – Anything Goes – Art Center Sarasota
2021 – WHOLENESS – 17th Annual Small Works Show – 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2021 – 32nd Annual St. Armands Art Festival, Sarasota, FL
2021 – Here Comes the Sun – Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
2021 – Process – Art Center Sarasota – Sarasota, FL
2021 – 18th Annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, FL
2021 – 33rd Annual Downtown Sarasota Festival of the Arts, Sarasota, FL
2020 – Small Works Show – JCO’s Art Haus, Los Gatos, CA
2020 – Onward and Upward – Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
2020 – Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) – Black & White Show, Brooklyn, NY
2020 – The Big Show – Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
2020 – The Tiny Show – Venice Art Center, Venice, FL
2020 – Uncharted – Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
2020 – Eye Candy – Art Center Sarasota, Sarasota, FL
2020 – 17th Annual St. Armands Circle Art Festival, Sarasota, FL
2019 – Art & Design Show Sarasota – Robarts Arena, Sarasota, FL
2019 – Welcome Back to Paradise – Venice Art Center, Venice, FL
2019 – 58th Annual Armonk Outdoor Art Show – Armonk, NY
2019 – Dog Days of Summer – Art Uptown Gallery, Sarasota, FL
2019 – Paperworks 2019 – B.J. Spoke Gallery, Huntington, NY
2019 – Natural Selection – Art Center Sarasota
2019 – LIC-A Member Showcase – Plaxall Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2019 – 21st Annual Postcards from the Edge – Benefit for Visual AIDS – Bortolami Gallery, New York City
2019 – 22nd Estero Fine Art Show – JetBlue Park, Fort Myers, FL
2018 – Small Works 2018 – Limner Gallery – Hudson, NY
2018 – Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC) – National Art Show
2018 – LIC Arts Open Spring Exhibition – Plaxall Gallery, Long Island City, New York City
2018 – 20th Annual Postcards from the Edge – Benefit for Visual AIDS – Gallery 524, New York City
2017 – Washington Square Art Show – New York City
2016 – Art in Bloom – Delaware Valley Arts Alliance
2015 – Art for Tight Spaces and New Works in Acrylic – Gallery 77, Jackson Heights, NY
2015 – The Impact of Color – Bgallery online gallery of The Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA)
2013 – Aph-O-Risms – Exploring the Economy of Form, DVAA, Narrowsburg, NY
2013 – Catskills Art Society – Group Show, Livingston Manor, NY
2012 – Diversions – Nutshell Arts Center, Lake Huntington, NY
2012 – Americana – Nutshell Arts Center, Lake Huntington, NY
You can see Ellen’s studio and her work at Towles Court:
Address:
1938 Adams Lane
Sarasota, FL34236
917-939-0245
Website: