Paintings as Social Commentary
Occasionally headlines in the news moves Nellermoe in such a way that he can only respond by painting his way through it. These are some of his comments on current or recent events.
Water is Life
In his stirring tribute to the resilience of Native Americans and their allies in North Dakota, Nellermoe immortalizes the brave souls who risked everything to protect not just their homeland, but the future of all who walk this Earth.
"We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." – Native Proverb
Moved by the injustice faced by the Standing Rock Sioux, Nellermoe's brush captures the raw emotion of a people forced to defend their sacred land. When the Dakota Access Pipeline was rerouted from Bismarck, ND to run nearly adjacent to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, it shattered the promises of the Fort Laramie Treaty, violating the right to undisturbed use of the land—a right enshrined in Article II of the treaty.
Despite the opposition of three federal agencies, the Army Corps of Engineers approved the pipeline, setting in motion the transport of 500,000 barrels of crude oil each day from the Bakken oil fields through sacred lands, crossing state lines from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to Illinois.
What began as peaceful resistance soon became a battleground. Law enforcement met the protestors' songs and prayers with tear gas, rubber bullets, and water cannons, unleashed upon them in the freezing grip of winter. The air was thick with the cries of the wounded, the ground stained with the blood of those who stood unyielding in the face of oppression.
Nellermoe’s painting stands as a testament to the enduring spirit of those who fought not only for themselves but for generations yet to come, echoing the belief that the Earth is not ours to conquer, but a sacred trust to be honored and protected.
Resilience
I am not a soldier, but my heart wages its own war against the brutality of human conflict. Why must we trade lives for power? To what end? For what reason? The cycle of senseless destruction and death—why? In the face of this turmoil, my voice rises in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. For their healing, their enduring spirit, and their unwavering resilience.
Rain Stories
In the sweltering August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina roared into New Orleans, drowning over 80% of the city in a deluge that reshaped its very soul. As the floodwaters crept through the streets, swallowing homes and histories, the city gasped for breath, its heart submerged under the weight of catastrophe.
But nature wasn’t finished. Just weeks later, in September, Hurricane Rita swept in like an uninvited guest, lashing the Gulf Coast from eastern Texas to western Florida, deepening the scars Katrina had left behind. The devastation was so profound that 2.5 million people fled Texas ahead of Rita’s wrath, their memories still raw from the horrors of Katrina.
San Antonio became a refuge for tens of thousands of these storm-weary souls. There, Nellermoe listened to their "Rain Stories"—tales of levees surrendering to the relentless surge in New Orleans, of Houston’s streets transformed into rivers, of coastal towns in Alabama and Mississippi flattened to mere whispers of their former selves. Florida, too, lost its grip on normalcy, as the storms tore through the fabric of everyday life.
The visuals on the news were haunting: a city submerged, communities erased, and lives forever altered by the unforgiving force of nature. It was a time when the skies wept, and the land bore the weight of those tears.