Like a lens through which to see the world, art has the ability to shape perspective and experience in everyday situations.
For artist Ellen Tuttle, it’s difficult to walk down the street without noticing the way light cascades from the sky, how a shadow falls across a building or the ways colors shift as the sun moves through the day.
Her paintings can add depth and texture to those scenes in ways that a photograph cannot.
“It’s endless — endless creativity. The more I paint, the more I see in the world about what stands out and how many shades of color or the light in a cloud. Unless you immerse yourself in that, you won’t really see those things,” she said.
Tuttle is sharing her vision with the community throughout the month of August, with a collection of acrylic and watercolor paintings hanging at the Southside Art League’s Off Broadway Gallery.
Her hope is that the exhibit moves people to consider the varied approaches to art, and by augmenting her work with some of the specialized paper she uses, brushes and other materials, maybe she can inspire their own creativity as well.
“I hope they expand their mind to a different way of seeing art. There are many different ways of doing that,” she said.
The opportunity to never stop learning drives Tuttle as an artist. She has studied with well-known Southside Art League artists Beverly Mathis in watercolor and acrylic with Gretchen Ten Eyck Hunt, in addition to working with Dianna Porter at her studio in Bargersville. Every year, she takes at least one instructional workshop to expand her skills.
Each class adds something to her work. Studying under Sandy Maudlin at her studio in Lawrenceburg, as well as in her workshops in France, Spain and Portugal, Tuttle incorporated tape batik into her paintings. The technique uses transparent watercolor paints on special watercolor paper, with some finished portions blocked off in masking tape, to create a composition.
“Especially in the tape batik, I look for something that has a lot of shadow and light. Those paintings are truly about values,” she said.
Tuttle has been drawn to art since she was a child, though she never pursued it seriously until later in her life. She established a career in the mortgage business, only deciding to take a watercolor class on a whim as she got older.
At first, the experience was intimidating.
“I felt like I was 6 years old, with a little lunchbox when I walked in, because I was so out of practice,” she said. “I thought, ‘What am I doing?’”
But soon, she settled back into the familiar routine of creating that she had loved when she was younger. Tuttle not only developed her technical skills as she took more and more classes, but she learned to trust her own perspective in seeing the world.
Throughout her career, Tuttle has exhibited at the Southside Art League gallery multiple times, where her paintings have earned several awards. She has also shown in the professional division at the Indiana State Fair, the Brown County Art Gallery and the juried show at the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild in Tucson, Arizona.
In addition to being a member at the Southside Art League, she belongs to the Watercolor Society of Arizona, Indiana Watercolor Society and the Hoosier Salon.
The detail that she put in her work was based on her own interpretations, as opposed to a literal interpretation of a scene or an object.
“I started trying to be honest with myself about how I see things, and not be swayed by how someone else sees it,” she said. “I like paintings that tell a story.”
Tuttle recounts one painting she did that was inspired by a bookstore in Paris. The shop was located down a dusty alley, one that few would gravitate towards among the beauty of the city.
Still, peering in the window, Tuttle was captivated by it.
“It was just so full of history — an old photograph of some children, a Chanel perfume bottle, an advertisement for outdated shoes, tons of dusty books. There was a story in each of those,” she said. “I don’t think a photograph, you can always get that.”
Tuttle’s work will be on display at the Southside Art League through Aug. 30. A reception will be held for the public from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday at the gallery, featuring music by harpist Diane Knight.
