Last November, when Ted Ellis received a new Samsung Galaxy Five Note phone for an early Christmas present, little did he know the gift would spawn a new way of presenting his art.

“I just started doodling on the Samsung phone with the stylus and drew Kim Kardashian,” Ellis said Thursday during a reception in his honor at the Port Arthur Public Library.

He posted his rendition of the reality star on Facebook and received all kids of favorable hits.

From November to December, he created another 35 drawings on his phone, many of which have become part of the multi-media Black History exhibit on display at the Port Arthur Library from now through Feb. 29.

Ellis’ phone drawings were transferred to the library’s digital television wall exhibits, where those attending Thursday’s reception could get an up-close look at the artist’s talent.

The phone drawings demonstrate how to leverage technology, art and history using A-STEM, a unique combination of core subjects including the arts, science, technology engineering and math.

Ellis, 52, lives in Friendswood, and was born in New Orleans at a time when the turbulent Civil Rights Era was sweeping across the nation.

His works depict the struggle African Americans faced, and are still facing.

Ellis recently presented “Bloody Sunday — Selma, 1965” at the 50^th Anniversary Commemoration Event in Georgia.

At the Port Arthur exhibit, Ellis’ canvassed paintings were on display, including Blood Sunday; alongside the new multi-media art exhibit.

“I look around and I see my art work and I imagine all the art shows I have been to and all the art I have to carry around. We are in the embryotic stages of this new technology — something they don’t have in New York, Chicago, or Houston,” he said.

Ellis hopes Samsung, or perhaps Google, will take notice of the new art form.

“This is the origins of it,” he said. “And just like a child, you want to develop it, nourish it. When you think about innovation, it will be interesting to see what comes out of it.”

Ellis said he would like to see Samsung become a major sponsor and donate Note Pads to kids at school so they can tap their own creative side.

Ellis was originally an environmental chemist, but after working in the field for eight years, he decided to pursue his passion as an artist professionally.

Since then, his prints have sold world wide, and he has gained acclaim for his works. Among his many accomplishments, Ellis was the first African American to be commissioned to present a Black History show by Walt Disney, and has had a drawing of Obama’s inauguration exhibited in the French Embassy.

He plans to increase his mixed media exhibit to include 365 drawings of African Americans who have played a positive role in Black History — one for each day of the year.

“I have always been passionate about preserving African American history,” he said.

E-mail: sherry.koonce@panews.com

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