Ellen Langford: Mississippi Artist

Ellen Langford has studied fine arts at the San Francisco Art Institute, Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy, the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and at the University of Mississippi, along with earning a B.A. in Religion from Colby College in Maine. Having left Mississippi as a teen in 1985, Langford returned to the sticky southern August heat in 1998. Dividing time between painting, working as a paramedic and being with family, Langford has found new inspiration for her paintings from the strong and often strange flavors of her Mississippi home.

Detoxing November 12, 2008

I am filled with hope for our future. Alexander will have his first clear political memories of leadership of Barak Obama. A black man in appearance, of African and Caucasian heritage, raised in the Midwest, in Hawaii, in Asia. A man who plays basketball for two hours the day before he's elected to rule this nation. This is a time when young children can see that with enough hard work and a calm disposition in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, they can do and be ANYTHING they decide.

Certainly there are messes - toxic spills - to clean up.