Biography

Monte J Ellis was born in Banner, IL on July 23, 1939 to John and Zelma Ellis.  Monte passed away on June 3, 2009.  Monte was the oldest of six sons and lived almost all of his life in Central Illinois.  Monte was an accomplished wildlife artist and proficient in many art mediums.

Monte graduated from Canton High School in 1957.   Monte had very little formal training in art and during his lifetime only attended a few college level art classes.   Through a profile in a local newspaper article, Monte revealed much of his art education came from spending many hours at the local public library and checking out texts on art.

He married Sharyl D. Strode on June 3, 1961 and the two of them had two children, Kathy Angela Ellis, March 8, 1962, and  Eric La Mont Ellis, September 14, 1964.  Their daughter Kathy passed away on December 21st, 2005 and Monte’s wife Sharyl passed away on June 11, 2007.

Over the years, Monte’s artwork has been on display at Graham Hospital and the Canton Daily Ledger, both located in Canton, IL.  Two of his oil paintings are in the permanent collection of Lakeview Museum in Peoria, IL.  Monte also entered the Federal Duck Stamp Contest on numerous occasions, but was never selected.   Monte was the recipient of several local art guild awards and during the 1970′s and early 1980′s was selected by the Fulton County Arts Council of Illinois to exhibit works of art at Spoon River College in Canton, IL.

Monte was also represented by Nature House out of Griggsville, IL, during the 1970′s and early 1980′s.

During the later years of his life, Monte focused on three-dimensional works of art such as wildflowers and hummingbirds, hoping to create a process for the reproduction of his pieces.

From 1965 until late spring of 1975, Monte was the site manager of a large, private duck hunting complex located in the Illinois River bottoms.  This, along with Monte spending a great deal of time in the out doors, allowed Monte to have a long-term, up-close opportunity to observe and study the wildlife he was so fond of.

In 1974, Monte and three other men made a lengthy trip by canoe to the Arctic Circle in 1974.   This trip and later canoe trips to Canada were obvious influences on later works of art.