Ted Ellis and his wife are both natives of New Orleans, and much of his art along with his passion for art are inspired by the vibrant city. As a young man, he would search the colorful French Quarter for subjects to paint. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation of parts of the city, the city's role in his art drastically changed so as to reflect the story of hope and rebirth that he saw in the disaster.
On the night before the storm hit Louisiana, the Ellis home in Texas was a refuge for 10 New Orleans families, 50 people in all. After the storm, Ellis helped fly home friends stranded outside New Orleans, and he organized colleagues in the art community behind the relief effort.
Ellis was allowed to enter the city two weeks after the flood waters subsided in order to survey the damage to his mothers home in the Lower Ninth Ward and salvage her possessions. While travelling among the destroyed houses and deserted city, Ellis witnessed a lone man repairing his homes roof. The contrast resonated with Ellis, and he memorialized the hope he saw in the mans actions through his piece Surviving Katrina. The scene is of rising floodwater that traps a family on their houses roof while the father holds up the Flag of the United States, a flag that to Ellis symbolizes the need for the nation to come together to aid those affected by the storm.
In Life Begins Anew, a father holds a baby above floodwaters while another man reaches out to take the child. Ellis describes the scene as symbolizing the promise of a new beginning for those who survived Katrina and its aftermath.
As its title indicates, the Katrina: The Hope, Healing and Rebirth of New Orleans collection was for Ellis about showing the power of art to assist the healing process: "The largest piece I did is about how life begins anew and how a person can find hope even after such devastation. I want this work to be uplifting, to be a fresh breath of life for the community."