Marietta Artist, Shelley M. House Destroys Books

Today’s society teaches us to revere books. We consider books as living bodies, almost holy. Questions like, why? How could she? What motivates an artist to do such a thing? What kind of art involves books anyway?

Collectively speaking, we as a society also value art. Shelley M. House must have some sort of value system; she is an artist. She is a mixed media artist.

Another question: what exactly are mixed media? According to the dictionary, mixed media art occurs when an artist uses more than one material such as paint, pen, clay, etc. to produce a combination of art techniques in one work.

Shelley uses a recycled or rescued book as the canvas and several other materials on the book to produce a new art form. Aha. Shelley does not seem like the social pariah that the headline leads one to assume after all!

Shelley, receptive to her followers and fellow artists, made the decision to keep her book of altered pages intact. That’s right. She will not cut any page from a recycled/rescued book. Shelley doesn’t really destroy books. Shelley alters them. Shelley makes art with them. Shelley makes prints of her “altered pages.” Shelley is a sensitive, smart artist!

What made Shelley think of books for mixed media? Shelley is also a poet. She has been writing poetry since childhood. Shelley has found a way to incorporate words into her art. A perfectly logical progression when you consider Shelley M. House.

All art comes from inspiration. Shelley’s art is no different. What makes Shelley’s art so vibrant and unique? Could it be that Shelley is also a violinist, architect, wife and mother? Oh, yeah.  All those elements form and shape how Shelley sees and processes the world around her. Shelley is a mixed media person.

Can you spot some of these influences on Shelley’s altered page, “Liquid Topaz?”

Go see this print up close in person, and Shelley’s other mixed media pieces involving digital photography at her studio:

Dupree’s Antique Market, 17 Whitlock Ave, Marietta GA, 30060

For more information, visit her website at http://www.shelleymhouse.com/index.html.