I’ve been busy in the studio, cranking out work for the upcoming market season here in Colorado Springs. In celebration of Spring, I present to you my Spring Shadowbox Series!

Each piece is created using collected and found materials. I have a penchant for old books, (especially children’s literature books), maps, and everything vintage and handmade paper. I use these materials as my medium to create. The garden series was created using vintage gardening books and manuals, sheet music sourced from The Sherwood Music School (copyright 1929) out of Chicago, Illinois. Map selections were sourced from TIME World Atlas (1980)

I enjoy creating shadowboxes because, similar to our memories of things or events we cherish- when we look back on these memories, they may shift or change over time. We may see them from a different perspective, certain bits may be more clear, or perhaps darker, and harder to remember. We look back on our memories with a kind of nostalgia that is precious to us, and our personal life experience.

It is that feeling of nostalgia, remembrance, and re-imagination of memories that I try to capture within my work. Taking extremely old and delicate things, and re-imagining them into something that is new, yet hold a lot of history that we may or may not know about. The composition of each shadowbox is static, however, depending on the level or direction of light, the angle you view it, or where it is placed within a space, the piece itself shifts into something slightly different.

I enjoy the using collage as my chosen art form because similar to the way I paint, draw, and create in general, it’s fast-paced. Collage allows to me to develop ideas, expand compositions, and make changes at the quick pace. I can work on many projects at once (which is always happening it seems), without getting bored or lost. Below is a quick photo of the process, before I assemble and mount the final shadowbox pieces:

As Spring begins in full season, dont forget to follow me on Instagram (@studiono2), Facebook, as well as my Etsy page to keep up on new artwork coming out continually!