NEW OPENING AT THE O'SIDE BAKERY
GRACE SHELLY
ABOUT THE ART & HOW IT’S PRESENTED:
It is eclectic. My first love is abstract and impressionistic art, but I do representational art as well. I am especially moved by the local nature of California’s coast: the ocean with all of its changing light, majesty and beauty, coastal and tropical botanicals and palm silhouettes of all kinds.
It is about imagination and experimentation. Intentional camera movement technique (ICM) while shooting creates light paintings that are captured as I move the camera while taking the shot. Abstracts have also been shot inside of a mylar shopping bag or created from reflections in a puddle after the rain. A curling piece of bark becomes an ocean wave calling local surfers. Agave Cacti become seascapes when turned on their sides.
It has a contemporary look.
I print my images on various substrates: on acrylic sheets; on large canvases finished with epoxy, or brushed aluminum gallery wraps. All are very contemporary looks. On the metal wraps, the brushed aluminum shows through giving the images a depth and a metallic shimmer that I love. The canvas with epoxy is a gorgeous finish!
ARTIST’S BIO:
I was born and raised in the spectacular natural beauty of Alaska. Nature and the environment still inform the work that I do as an artist today. I left as a young adult hungry for exposure to urban environments and the arts and culture they have to offer that I missed as a child. Currently, I live and create in Carlsbad, California near the Pacific Ocean. I am largely a self-taught artist and creative. When I retired from the workaday world in 2015, I experimented with a variety of media and eventually settled on digital photography and mixed media as my primary modes of expression. Using everyday experiences as a starting point, I directly respond to the present circumstance and moment, not knowing exactly what my camera lens will capture. It is with the alchemy of imagination, experimentation, and editing that the visual gift emerges.
