elnellis

Ending here, Beginning There

2010-09-29T12:37:00.000-07:00

After 5 years of blogging here, the time has come to end this site and begin anew over here. My new blog will be integrated into my main portfolio site, which at the moment is still underway.

As always, blank canvases, blank slates and fresh starts fill me with terror and hope.

Don’t forget to grab the new feed or toss blog.elnellis.com in your reader, or however you follow along and stay in touch. See you there.

Daily Sketchy #20

2010-09-25T09:50:00.000-07:00

"Good Song"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #19

2010-09-23T20:54:00.001-07:00

"Your Next Back-Piece"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010
(it worked out great, you needed a design for that big tattoo you are getting, and I needed to get some death-metal out, thanks, really).

Daily Sketchy #18

2010-09-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

"El Tigre"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

elnellis.com

2010-09-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

If you haven't noticed, my portfolio site has been off line for a few weeks. The company that was hosting it shut down with out giving notice. A lot was lost, but in that there is the opportunity to re-build and make pretty. Stay tuned... I know you are on the seat of your edge, I mean pants. You know what I mean.

Daily Sketchy #17

2010-09-06T09:19:00.000-07:00

"You are also a Bird with a Human Face"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #16

2010-09-06T09:18:00.000-07:00

"Welcome to the Machine"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #15

2010-09-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

"Carefully, Carefully"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #14

2010-08-30T09:57:00.001-07:00

"The Encounter"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #13

2010-08-30T09:55:00.000-07:00

"It Breathes With Me"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #12

2010-08-27T13:17:00.001-07:00

"Untitled"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #11

2010-08-24T11:43:00.001-07:00

"Calaca"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #10

2010-08-23T07:43:00.000-07:00

"A Family Portrait"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

New Work: Careful What You Wish For

2010-08-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

"Careful What You Wish For"
Acrylic Inks on Watercolor Paper
Triptych | 18 x 22 in

More artwork | Portfolio

Daily Sketchy #9

2010-08-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

"Howlin'"

Acrylic Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #8

2010-08-18T07:46:00.001-07:00

"Happening Again"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #7

2010-08-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

"No White Bread"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #6

2010-08-16T13:46:00.001-07:00

"Wise Bison"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #5

2010-08-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

"Not Until You Bless Me"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #4

2010-08-16T13:44:00.001-07:00

"Drinking"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #3

2010-08-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

"Leaves are Dropping on 3rd Ave"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #2

2010-08-16T13:38:00.001-07:00

"Their Holiday was in the Balance"
Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

Daily Sketchy #1

2010-08-16T13:31:00.000-07:00

"Expansive between Beasts"

Archival Ink Pen on Paper, 2010

In an effort to unblock some creative blockage, I hope to be sketching more. This is sort of like my drawing-a-day series last summer. It has to do with discipline and playfulness. All the images in this series are free-handed with an archival ink pen on heavy pound sketch paper. Let me know if you are interested in purcha$ing any of them. Stay tuned!

Judah

2010-08-14T15:40:00.001-07:00

the process of a family photo

2010-08-14T15:37:00.000-07:00

La Luna

2010-07-26T14:34:00.001-07:00

This was the moon from our porch at dusk last night.
Huge, haunting, merciless.

Mystery and Miracle

2010-07-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

We have 4 chickens. These are the eggs they lay for us.
Every day it blows my mind. Every time it's a miracle.

The Opiate Mass- Vol 2. Albatross

2010-07-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

Zadok over at The Opiate Mass used an image I drew for the cover of their newest release.
Go buy the record and support what they do.

Ce n'est pas un Photographe

2010-06-30T08:04:00.001-07:00

8"x6" Acrylic Inks on Paper

Rooster

2010-06-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

This was our family's first experience in slaughtering an animal for food. The 2yr old golden rooster was a gift from Ryan and Bonnie Marsh. Thanks friends!

Ascension

2010-05-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ascension from Wits' End Church on Vimeo.

Slow Reader, Fast Eater

2010-05-17T08:52:00.000-07:00

My friend Jonathan (who built elnellis.com last Fall) just launched a site called Slow Reader, Fast Eater where he tosses up goodies he discovers around the interweb. I've always liked his taste in art, design, etc... really great imagery to sort through, updated frequently.

The Thin Place

2010-05-15T13:43:00.000-07:00

New Work! Head on over to my art site to see the full image.

At the request of the Intiman Theater in response to The Thin Place.

~~To be on display throughout the showing of the play.~~

60" x 40" - Acrylic and India Inks on Paper Board.

At Work

2010-05-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

Some photographs of me at work: process, mediums, tools- by Joshua Longbrake.

Art as Conversation

2010-05-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

Over the last 6 months my brother and I have been collaborating on a body of work together. The intent was a dialog between artists. We settled on the size of paper, the type of pen and a few other boundries and began the conversation. He began each piece with a character or a landscape. I responded by adding to the drawing. Then back to him. And back again. Each image is composed of anywhere from 4 t0 6 exchanges. Eventually, 31 drawings emerged out of which we settled on 26 of them being our favorites. We grew in an understanding of one-another as artists like I never would have imagined. Some of the earlier ones reveal the differences in our style, but some of the later ones are almost seemless. We still don't know what we are going to do with this special body of work (suggestions welcomed)- but I will say that it has been one of the most formative experiments in creativity that I've ever been a part of.

from The War of Art (you should read it)

2010-04-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

2010-04-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

It's been almost ten years since I shaved these cheeks.

If it's a symbol...

2010-04-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Well, toward morning the conversation turned on the Eucharist... now she thought of it as a symbol and implied that it was a pretty good one. I then said, in a very shaky voice, "Well, if it's a symbol, to hell with it." That was all the defense I was capable of but I realize now that this is all I will ever be able to say about it, outside of a story, except that it is the center of existence for me; all the rest of life is expendable.
- Flannery O'Connor

New Work

2010-04-07T08:48:00.000-07:00

"Eating Alone"
India Ink on Watercolor Paper
elnellis.com

How To Be a Poet by Wendell Berry

2010-03-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

Make a place to sit down.

Sit down. Be quiet.

You must depend upon

affection, reading, knowledge,

skill—more of each

than you have—inspiration,

work, growing older, patience,

for patience joins time

to eternity. Any readers

who like your poems,

doubt their judgment.

Breathe with unconditional breath

the unconditioned air.

Shun electric wire.

Communicate slowly. Live

a three-dimensioned life;

stay away from screens.

Stay away from anything

that obscures the place it is in.

There are no unsacred places;

there are only sacred places

and desecrated places.

iii

Accept what comes from silence.

Make the best you can of it.

Of the little words that come

out of the silence, like prayers

prayed back to the one who prays,

make a poem that does not disturb

the silence from which it came.

stone igloo

2010-02-10T09:44:00.001-08:00

A tribute to Andy Goldsworthy. This is my second stone igloo, built it with Jonathan, Sylas and Judah on a river near Mt. St. Helens. [photo by Jonathan]

suddenly homesick

2010-02-02T08:54:00.001-08:00

"una bicicleta" -by katie baldwin
at buyolympia.com

Gathering: Ending Exile

2010-01-28T11:35:00.000-08:00

"...Ministry cannot be about maintainance; it is about gathering, about embrace, about welcoming home 'all sorts of and conditions' of people. Home is a place for the mother tongue, of basic soul food, of old stories told and treasured, of being at ease, known by name, belonging without qualifying for membership. The ministry of gathering is one to which this God has been committed forever.” - W.Brueggemann

always good conversation

2010-01-25T07:35:00.000-08:00

Me: Who watched you at church today?
Judah: Thomas played with me.
Sylas: But he's not a tank-engine.
Judah: But he's a nice man.

dialogue

2010-01-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

"It is the Hebraic intuition that God is capable of all speech acts except that of monologue, which has generated our acts of reply, of questioning, of counter-creation... there had to be, if man was to bear his being, the means of dialogue with God, which are spelled out in our poetics, music, art."
- George Steiner

on a Jim Jarmusch kick... beautiful emptiness

2010-01-18T08:45:00.001-08:00

down by law

stranger than paradise

On Her Way

2010-01-16T15:26:00.000-08:00

On Her Way (acrylic inks on paper)
www.elnellis.com

for Judah

2010-01-16T15:19:00.001-08:00

for Judah (acrylic inks on paper)
www.elnellis.com

a few more animals

2010-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Here are a few stragglers from my "drawing-a-day" experiment last fall. Head over to my portfolio to view the full images.

scraping by...

2010-01-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

Dad: Joshua is like a sky-scraper, he's so tall.
Sylas: Yeah, and me and Judah are just ground-scrapers.

a thought on inclusion/exclusion

2010-01-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

"The feast of the Kingdom of God is described (and acted out) by [Jesus] as generously inclusive beyond anyone's wildest dreams. That is the main point: the free, surprising love of a God who can be utterly trusted to judge truthfully and then decide far more compassionately than any of the rest of us. There is also a sharp not of exclusion [in his feast-centered ethic], but it is one that follows from the inclusiveness. The excluded are those who cannot bear God's generosity and will not imitate it." [David Ford, Self and Salvation]

Can you drink the cup?

2010-01-09T16:07:00.001-08:00

"But this is togetherness with sharp differentiation... One of those present must die, and their togetherness has to incorporate that- or, rather, be incorporated into it. They are approaching something which will test the bounds of their community past breaking points."
[David Ford in Self and Salvation]

Office Space!

2010-01-02T15:57:00.001-08:00

With gratitude to the generous folks at Haller Lake Baptist and the hard work of friends who had extra paint lying around- I now have somewhere to go to work! Still Needed: bookshelves, couch, coffee table.

Checking Back In on Last Year's Resolutions

2009-12-29T12:22:00.000-08:00

Last year I resolved to do two things: read more poetry and try to digest the entire Tom Waits discography. I did neither fully, but at the same time, don't think I failed at either entirely.

I went almost all year without reading poetry and in this last month, have read two books of poetry cover to cover- and I strongly recommend them both:

Billy Collins - Questions About Angels
Wendell Berry - A Timbered Choir

While I didn't "digest" [it might have been a bit ambitious, what was I thinking] all of Tom Waits, I certainly listened to a lot of Tom Waits. And at the end of the year, I will say that I am more convinced I need both good poetry and the music of Mr. Waits in my life.

Family Update

2009-12-29T12:18:00.001-08:00

Bizarre Holiday Bazaar

2009-12-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

This Friday, myself and some friends will be doing this with Church of the Beloved. I'll be selling some smaller illustrations and prints. It's a great place to find quality, local and affordable art for Christmas gifts. Come on out.

Copper Earrings

2009-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again! A few people have already been asking and placing orders, so it's time to get the official word out. I make these earrings every year [around the season in which people like to buy things to give as gifts to others]. These make great gifts- the copper is hammered, oxidized and etched by hand, resulting in pieces that are purposefully unique. Go here to see samples and find out how to order.

[Updated]: FYI- Christmas is over, but I take orders all year long.

because we need a housemate

2009-11-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Joshua needs someone to live with him. He lives downstairs. So that means we need someone to live with him. That means you'd be living with us too... (genuine smiles). Here's his invitation- please contact us for details and a roof over your head (actually, it'd be 2 roofs because you'd be downstairs).

Community, Relationship and Solidarity... with the Other.

2009-11-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

I had a classic "driveway moment" this week- where the story on the radio kept me from getting out of my car for another 15 min after I had arrived home. I was surprised, moved and brought to tears by this tale of how relationship bears more weight than morality or values. Enjoy the story and I'd love to know your reaction, too.

[overheard]

2009-10-31T18:43:00.000-07:00

Sylas (4): Lets hurry up the stairs so the bears don't get us!
Judah (2): Yeah, lets hurry up the stairs so the... Hey! There's no bears in the house!

this is problematic

2009-10-30T12:06:00.000-07:00

"We have counted on preaching, teaching, and knowledge or information to form faith in the hearer, and have counted on faith to form the inner life and outward behavior of the Christian. But, for whatever reason, this strategy has not turned out well. The result is that we have multitudes of professing Christians who well may be ready to die, but obviously are not ready to live, and can hardly get along with themselves, much less with others." - Dallas Willard (2006).

Current [NonStop] Soundtrack

2009-10-30T08:27:00.000-07:00

Wendell Berry says...

2009-10-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

...the Food System is firmly grounded on the following principles:

Food is important mainly as an article of international trade.
It doesn't matter what happens to farmers.
It doesn't matter what happens to the land.
Agriculture has nothing to do with "the environment."
There will always be plenty of food, for if farmers don't grow it from the soil, then scientists will invent it.
There is no connection between food and health. People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are healed by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.
It follows that there is no connection between healing and health. Hospitals customarily feed their patients poor-quality, awful-tasting, factory-made expensive food and keep them awake all night with various expensive attentions. There is a connection between money and health.

Wendell Berry (Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, 1994).

Your Body belongs to the World of Love

2009-10-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

"A body, love insists, is neither a spirit nor a machine; it is not a picture, a diagram, a chart, a graph, an anatomy; it is not an explanation; it is not a law. It is precisely and uniquely what it is. It belongs to the world of love, which is a world of living creatures, natural orders and cycles, many small, fragile lights in the dark." - Wendell Berry (Health is Membership, 1994).

Being and Utility

2009-10-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

Perhaps it was Max Weber who first made the connection between the development of capitalism and the puritan work ethic in his 1905 classic text. The links he draws feel obvious to me and I believe that today, the reverse influence of capitalist culture back upon the church is also true. The more we "run" churches like businesses, the more cues we begin to take (unchecked) from the corporate world. How should we organize without rigidity? How do we program without using eachother? How do we strategize without loosing sight of faces? How do we hire, fire, promote and demote within a worshiping community, called beloved by God? How do we encourage eachother to live into our spiritual gifitings without defining people by their utility? Are we more than simply cogs in the Kingdom of God? These are some thoughts on my mind these days that connected with these words by Moltmann in which I experience comfort and rest.
“When a man sees the meaning of life only in being useful and used, he necessarily gets caught in the crisis of living, when illness or sorrow makes everything including himself seem useless… Whoever lays hold of the joy which embraces the creator and his own existence also gets rid of the dreadful question of existence: For what? …We are evidently supposed to be busy with something, as if our existence were justified or rendered beautiful by this. The opposite is true: Our existence is justified and made beautiful before we are able to do or fail to do anything." - Moltmann (Theology of Play, 1972)

How do you Play?

2009-10-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

We no longer know how to do nothing. We have mastered our work and now must master our leisure. “Yet those who would master their leisure merely manage to violate their own freedom. Freedom has a way of coming by itself to those who are open and receptive. Those who feel they must master it are destroying freedom even in their leisure.” - Moltmann (Theology of Play, 1972).

ikon christian community

2009-10-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

A sweet church plant called IKON down in San Francisco is using a few of my "Fruit of the Spirit" series to advertize for their community (they just launched last Sunday- congrats!). I sent Longbrake down to take pictures- these are in the SF Subway system.

Hello, My name is _ and I delight in .

2009-10-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

“People in the United States define themselves by their work, says [a man from the Netherlands], who is self employed. ‘Europeans define themselves by hobbies and other things. Work is just a means.’... At parties in the US, he says, the first question is, ‘What do you do?’ In the Netherlands, the opening question is, ‘Where have you been on vacation?’ or ‘Where are you going on vacation?’”
Where I rest and what I do for pleasure reveals more about me than what I do "to pay the bills." I must derive my identity not from what I do, but from who I am. I discover who I am by listening to the voices of my community and paying attention to what brings me delight and causes life to flourish around me. My name must be separate from my utility- my name must come from Love.
Quote from Marilyn Gardner, "The Ascent of Hours on the Job," Christian Science Monitor 97, no. 110 (2005).

Time has Nothing to do With You

2009-10-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Lewis Mumford was an American historian and philosopher of technology and science- he wrote this in 1934: “The clock… is a piece of power-machinery whose ‘product’ is seconds and minutes: by its essential nature it dissociated time from human events and helped create the belief in an independent world of mathematically measurable sequence: the special world of science.”

Rememberance as Anticipation

2009-10-14T10:51:00.000-07:00

Walter Benjamin was a Jewish philosopher who wrote this in 1940 as a prisoner in a refugee camp in occupied France: “We know the Jews were prohibited from investigating the future. The Torah and the prayers instruct them in remembrance, however. This stripped the future of its magic, to which all those succumb who turn to the soothsayers for enlightenment. This does not imply, however, that for the Jews the future turned into homogeneous, empty time. For every second of time was the strait gate through which the Messiah might enter.”

Time Turned Its Back on Me

2009-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

We are all casualties of the mechanistic and militant advancement of purely linear conceptualizations of time. Franz Kafka articulates this sense of alienation and the impact of disembodied time upon all things (words, things, people, actions) as they loose their meaning in his stories. In a letter to his sister he wrote: “In fact the clock has certain personal relationships to me, like many things in the room, save that now… they seem to be beginning to turn their backs on me, above all the calendar… Lately it is as if it had been metamorphosed. Either it is absolutely uncommunicative- for example, you want its advice, you go up to it, but the only thing it says is ‘Feast of the Reformation’- which probably has a deeper significance, but who can discover it –or, on the contrary, it is nastily ironic.”

oh hell

2009-10-12T10:34:00.001-07:00

head on over to nathan's blog to read his sermon on hell. it's a well-researched piece that is very much worth sitting with and bringing to conversation with others. let the un-learning begin!
photo by bryan nixon.

The Subversive Economy

2009-10-10T14:36:00.001-07:00

I just completed this piece. It was commissioned by Epiphaneia for a conference they are putting on this coming April in Toronto- "The Evolving Church: Kingdom Economy."
India and Acrylic Inks on Watercolor Paper, by Phil Nellis (2009).

UPDATED: Here's the website for the event.

New Work: Jonathan and Esther

2009-09-30T18:16:00.001-07:00

India and Acrylic Inks on Watercolor Paper, 2009
"American Gothic meets Dia de los Muertos"
(see more work at elnellis.com)

Ghost Town Revival

2009-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

My brother has two buddies that write short stories and songs that (in my imagination) are told and sung on the stage that Flannery O'Connor built called the "Christ-Haunted South." Really great stuff to poke through. Two of my favorites: The Preacher on Saturday Night and Weather Report.

Image Details: "The Church without Christ," Ink on Board by Phil Nellis. Inspired by O'Connor's Wise Blood.

mhgs write up

2009-09-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

here's a write up about my art showing last week. yay. thanks mr blanco.

Bazan at MHGS

2009-09-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

Bazan at MHGS

Interview and Q&A at Art Show

2009-09-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

NEW WEBSITE IS LIVE!

2009-09-16T13:12:00.001-07:00

well, we worked hard and finished it a day early- so why not launch? thanks to mr armstrong for the [amazing] design and web skills and mr longbreak for the [click!] photos!

presenting the all new: www.elnellis.com

art show!

2009-09-10T07:37:00.000-07:00

[followed by an evening of music with david bazan! that part is sold out... but my part is free for all- so that means you can come too!] ps. sorry for the scary picture, it was not intended to frighten you or your children. NOTE: Corrected Time!

re-reading a psalm

2009-09-09T07:56:00.001-07:00

"la escapadita" - phil nellis (2006)

i was a part of a great conversation last night around psalm 23. we read it 5 times and then did some reader-response. there was a range of responses- anything from "i find comfort in this text" to "this is bullshit" and everything in between. i mostly responded to the text out of a place of disconnect and disillusion regarding the imagery and promise being offered- it is a psalm so worn out that its' words have no traction in my heart, they only trigger memories of poorly crafted songs and lame sunday school imagery.

i have to find a way back into the text. what i have found helpful is to handle it almost as a creed, which to me feels a lot like fantasy. i read it and submit myself to it not because it is my experience but because i have to believe that it could be. certainly, there is something deep down that resonates in the memory of my soul, but it is primarily the imaginative task that can lead my fools' heart to hope. and that is the risk of course.

earlier this week i was internally preoccupied with "the valley of the shadow of death" and was at the same time being invited into imaginative play by my 4-year old son. there was a deep cynicism that resisted this, i even projected it upon him thinking, "play while you can, kid, someday life won't be so fun." but in the end, i let him pull me out of my "real world" into a world that proved to be more real in that our play changed my perception of the valley. we were lions, there was a parade with foxes and hedgehogs, we had a picnic in the jungle. i began to feel the comfort of a rod and a staff. i sensed a table prepared before me.

when the play was over, my soul had been restored and reality had been altered. fantasy had spilled back into my world of anxiety and despair, reorienting what i could say to be true in that moment. i had recited a creed that was not mine and i found myself in it. take my cynicism and give me the prophetic imagination that affirms as real that which could be, that which my heart longs for- give me eyes to see more than i see right now.

mhgs advert

2009-09-07T20:19:00.001-07:00

a recent viewbook for mars hill graduate school featured my "la danse revisited" (2008)- a permanent installation in the lobby.

i want this life

2009-09-03T08:39:00.000-07:00

somehow i stumbled across nicole's blog and foto stream this morning and found myself in a restful world. i have no context for this person and of course we all craft images of ourselves online, "controlled" perceptions if you will- but the lifestyle portrayed in the photographs evokes a sense of intentionality, nurture, creativity and care that i long for. at any rate, browsing them was sabbath experience and for a moment i thought i lived on wendell berry's farm.

Bifrost Arts

2009-08-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Bifrost Arts music project "Come O Spirit" is available for pre-order. It ships on 9/8. Buy it here. YAY!

*UPDATE*
to my surprise, it shipped on the 1st and arrived last Friday- and after 20 spins, i think everyone should buy a copy. go now- iTunes or the link above... GO!

"Facebook II" by 3KTA

2009-08-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

amazing. that's all i have to say. see more here.

iQuote sylas [age 4]

2009-08-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

[while scribbling on paper with a red crayon] "Look, Judah! It's some fallen ketchup!"

Bulletin Board of the Brain

2009-08-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

my friend kj is sharp. she is well-versed in the realms of psychology, theology and the arts. this makes her a great reviewer of books, films and theater as far as i'm concerned. i've enjoyed her recent reviews of the twilight books-turned-movies [which i havn't read or seen but whose rabbid-rappid rise to POPularity i've been intreagued by- the phenomenon of it and what that may indicate in regards to understanding ourselves as a media-consuming-culture].
part I, part II, part III.

Come O Spirit!

2009-08-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

this is exciting and wonderful and i can't wait. i won't write anything about it because you can read about it here, here, here and here. [thanks for the heads-up blaine].

when the same event means different things to each party involved

2009-08-13T11:25:00.000-07:00

i don't follow sports much at all. but i always pay attention when these two countries play soccer together. the event means such different things to each side. yesterday, mexico won 2 to 1 on home turf in mexico city. the event sold-out el estadio azteca with 105,000 in the stands and many more spilling out into the streets. on the north side of things it was barely a blip on the radar. for mexico, it is honor, identity, culture and so much more. i'm not sure what it means for the states. regardless, i was happy to hear that mexico won, continuing to this day to never allow the us team to beat them in a south-of-the-boarder match.

steak holder

2009-08-11T07:12:00.000-07:00

7x11, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. $75 (original).

2009-08-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

happy anniversary to us! [8 yrs!]

2009-08-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Tree/Trinity Triptych

2009-08-01T09:59:00.001-07:00

I just finished a commission for our friends Shane and Cindy.

The concept was a trinitarian piece on three horizontal panels that had the imagery of earth (Father), land (Son) and sky (Holy Spirit). The tree tied them together beautifully.

Tree/Trinity Triptych
Fluid Acrylics on Canvas, 28" x 38"
image copyright: Phil Nellis, 2009

Chris Hedges

2009-07-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

My first introduction to Chris Hedges was in a 2008 interview in Sun Magazine. I was intreagued by his thoughts and found his insights to be both provocative and intellectual as well as spiritual and prophetic. Recently, my friend Peter lent me Hedges' popular book, War is a Force that Gives us Meaning- it's been a good, thought-provoking read. Mr. Hedges spoke at Seattle Town Hall last week on the topics of consumerism, celebrity worship and the cult of the self in America [topics I get particularly fired up by]. You can listen to it here if you like. Good stuff.

[www] el nellis [dot] com

2009-07-30T18:38:00.001-07:00

you may not have noticed, but elnellis.com has been quietly under construction. i'm excited to have the gifted help and lovely friendship of two brilliant men: joshua (standing) has re-shot all my art work and jonathan (sitting) is building the site. combined, these efforts will give it the feel of a professional portfolio and make it a more user-friendly space to move forward as an artist. i'm so excited! i'll let you know when it's up and running.

[][][]

2009-07-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

terrible yellow eyes

2009-07-22T11:09:00.000-07:00

this is fun: terrible yellow eyes is a visual tribute to maurice sendak's masterpiece, where the wild things are. another case in point that truely good art is never an end in itself, but a source of inspiration for continued conversation.

E is for Árbol

2009-07-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

6x6, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. not available.

J is for Águila

2009-07-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

6x6, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. not available.

S is for León

2009-07-18T13:28:00.000-07:00

elnellis

Ending here, Beginning There

Daily Sketchy #20

Daily Sketchy #19

Daily Sketchy #18

elnellis.com

Daily Sketchy #17

Daily Sketchy #16

Daily Sketchy #15

Daily Sketchy #14

Daily Sketchy #13

Daily Sketchy #12

Daily Sketchy #11

Daily Sketchy #10

New Work: Careful What You Wish For

Daily Sketchy #9

Daily Sketchy #8

Daily Sketchy #7

Daily Sketchy #6

Daily Sketchy #5

Daily Sketchy #4

Daily Sketchy #3

Daily Sketchy #2

Daily Sketchy #1

Judah

the process of a family photo

La Luna

Mystery and Miracle

The Opiate Mass- Vol 2. Albatross

Ce n'est pas un Photographe

Rooster

Ascension

Slow Reader, Fast Eater

The Thin Place

At Work

Art as Conversation

from The War of Art (you should read it)

If it's a symbol...

New Work

How To Be a Poet by Wendell Berry

stone igloo

suddenly homesick

Gathering: Ending Exile

always good conversation

dialogue

on a Jim Jarmusch kick... beautiful emptiness

On Her Way

for Judah

a few more animals

scraping by...

a thought on inclusion/exclusion

Can you drink the cup?

Office Space!

Checking Back In on Last Year's Resolutions

Family Update

Bizarre Holiday Bazaar

Copper Earrings

because we need a housemate

Community, Relationship and Solidarity... with the Other.

[overheard]

this is problematic

Current [NonStop] Soundtrack

Wendell Berry says...

Your Body belongs to the World of Love

Being and Utility

How do you Play?

ikon christian community

Hello, My name is _______ and I delight in ______.

Time has Nothing to do With You

Rememberance as Anticipation

Time Turned Its Back on Me

oh hell

The Subversive Economy

New Work: Jonathan and Esther

Ghost Town Revival

mhgs write up

Bazan at MHGS

Interview and Q&A at Art Show

NEW WEBSITE IS LIVE!

art show!

Hello, My name is _ and I delight in .