Edward Ott was born August
29, 1914, in Massillon, Ohio. [At our first meeting, I noticed the size
and strength of his hands. As a native Ohioan myself, I know that Massillon
High School is a perennial state, if not national, football powerhouse. So
I asked him if he had ever played football in high school. "Yes," he answered,
"I played for Paul Brown."] After high school, Mr. Ott worked for Republic
Steel,  eventually
becoming a foreman. Later, he became a master plumber and builder, owned
his own remodeling/contracting business, and raised two sons with his wife,
Ethel. In 1984, in retirement in Lakeland, Florida, while recuperating from
injuries in a car accident, Mr. Ott began painting. He was 70. In August
1997, at the age of 84, he passed on. He produced a large body of work during
those fourteen years. His subject matter is idealized
rural scenes and settings often peopled, respectively, by Black Americans,
Native Americans,
cowboys, and wild and domesticated animals. Mr. Ott was famous for his pigs,
which predate the film "Babe." He was also known for his Black Santa Claus
paintings. And always popping up, often in a corner of his painting, sometimes
as a primary subject, is the dog . . . Mr. Ott's faithful, loving companion,
smiling with carefully drawn teeth and usually painted looking directly at
the viewer. No matter what the subject matter, his paintings are always about
the spiritual values his subject matter represents and reverence for God.
"When I paint, it comes from inside," he often said, tapping his heart (and
not his head). Mr. Ott liked to tell how much time various
details in his paintings took to paint. He proudly predicted, "The longer
you look at my painting, the more things you will see." |
