New Blog

I wanted to make a post here about my new blog. I no longer use this blog. I created this one while I was in school to help document what I was working on for the program. I have started a new blog on my website through Wordpress. This offers me more variations and a more interesting layout.

To get to the new blog, please follow this link:
www.rebeccashelly.com/blog

I have set it up to post three days a week:

Happy Holidays!

I did a little decorating to my garden area for the winter season. All of the boughs I cut from greens on the property. My sister had given me a small evergreen plant years ago and now I decorated it with some more greenery. I had some fun then taking photos of the current state of my garden and making mini greeting cards.
Have a Happy Holiday!
-Rebecca

Making my own clothes

Lately I have been feeling guilty because my creative energy has been going towards making garments. For years, painting is what I did to work out my artistic needs. This past year, I have been teaching myself how to create garments and it has been challenging and rewarding. I have enjoyed the process. I love getting compliments about my dress and saying that I made it. I get really excited by this. I want to say to people, "You can do this too!" It does take some time and I do already have an art background so it may be a little different for me. Just like drawing, I feel that with dedication anyone can do this.
Here are some images of some of the pieces that I have created.

Burdastyle/Project Runway

I entered a Project Runway/Rowenta competition by Burdastyle. It is about reusing clothes too make a new outfit. I turned a large suit into a dress. My design was chosen to be part of the 50 to be voted on.
I created this piece out of a linen suit. I took it in to fit me and created a belt.
Check it out:
http://www.burdastyle.com/albums/186/images?page=25&size=small

The Seed Olympics

This past August, I had a solo show at Falsefront Studio here in Portland, Oregon. The concept for the show was based on seeds competing as if they were in the Olympics.

Artist Statement:
"The Seed Olympics is a camp exploration of my interest in athletes and horticulture. I don’t care for sports. Strangely enough, I am enthralled by the Olympics; the build-up of the games, the extreme power of the bodies of the athletes who train relentlessly and the voyeuristic thrill of feeling as you are a part of it, even if just watching it on television. Inspiration for this show came to me while watching the Winter Olympics. At the time, I was thinking about doing a test run of all of my seeds under a grow lamp. One night, I had a bizarre dream that my plants were competing as if they were in the Olympics. I decided to turn this into a reality and create a short video with supplemental paintings and installation. Thus, The Seed Olympics embodies my interest in growing, craft, video and humor."

The video can be seen here: The Seed Olympics!


If you have any questions or are interested in purchasing a piece, please contact me at rebecca.shelly@gmail.com.

New Work in Rom'n Times Show

PSU Art Department | Italy | Summer 2009
Monday, January 4, 2010 – Friday, January 29, 2010
Autzen Gallery | 2nd Floor PSU Neuberger Hall | Room 205 | 724 SW Harrison | Portland, OR 97210
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday | 10-5 p.m.

Vanessa Calvert
Cassandra Dorsey
Lori Gilbert
Bethany Hays
Stuart Mayer
Cassie Neth
Jennifer Norton
Stuart Mayer
Bridget Murphy
Ralph Pugay
Rebecca Shelly
Miles Sprietsma
Cody Thomas

The images here are my latest pieces.

1. Jewel Tart I,II and III, Acrylic on panel with mixed media and resin cast frames, 2009.







2. Il Teatro Gelato, Acrylic on panel and fabric, 2009.

Portrait Heads: late second century A.D.

The Vatican Museum is full of really amazing work. This post will focus more on the popularity of creating busts. If the father figure of a family died, they would make a wax mold of his face and create a shrine around it. The wealthy Romans wanted to have these turned into marble to show their significance in society. The popularity of this probably lead to artists creating portraits of living people.
Some of these heads showed intense emotion that had not been seen in sculpture before. Not all of them were idealized also. Many were true to life.