"Golden Rhapsody"

The morning sun gilds clouds and shimmers across gentle ocean waves

​in Ellen's glowing new oil painting

18" x 34" oil on canvas (sold)

and a limited edition of signed, numbered and embossed giclee prints

​by Ellen Rice

'Golden Rhapsody'

​by Ellen Rice

Whenever I witness a beautiful sunrise, I am drawn to share what is before my eyes. This peaceful, golden sunrise led me to put brush to canvas.

Once I got to the point that the painting started to glow, a verse from the Old Testament of the Bible started coming to me.

"Arise, shine, for thy light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon me." 

Watching the sun rising over the ocean, the vast expanse makes the busy-ness of life, the challenges and problems -- seem small by comparison. Breathing changes. Calmness prevails. 

The eternal rhythm of the surf, the water lapping at our feet, waves coming and going, light shimmering from the sun, bouncing off the water and reflecting everywhere, fill me with peace.

Perhaps we gain for those few moments, a greater perspective. I have the same feeling when driving among mountains, or sometimes just looking closely into the world that resides in the blooms of flowers and their intricate, organized patterns. Something, a vaster intelligence than anything we humans can comprehend, forms them.

I paint not only to bring more beauty and light into the world, but to share with those who gaze at my work, moments where you can pause, stop thinking, just take in the magnificence of what is before you, whether an ocean sunrise, a mountain sunset, the intricate beauty of a flower or the smile on a child's face.

Paraphrasing poet Mary Oliver, a work of art "is complete" when it reaches the viewer's eyes.