“If you get simple beauty and nought else, You get about the best thing God invents.”
Robert Browning “Fra Lippo Lippi”

My work is inspired by nature, particularly birds and other delicate creatures, as well as things man has made: bikes, typewriters, street lights, chairs, et cetera. I enjoy bringing these elements together by thoughtfully balancing them as the foreground subjects in a painting. The subjects appear to float and are showcased apart from their natural setting to simplify their formal beauty, along with communicating a conceptual theme. My abstract backgrounds allow the foreground subjects to breathe, in that they are not tightly rendered, nor realistic, but they set a stage for another kind of environment. Juxtaposing the realistic subjects with the abstract backgrounds gives the work a modern tone on a colorful, vivid plane. Acrylic lends itself to the quick and spontaneous backgrounds I enjoy.

The conceptual ideas behind my work range from fun and whimsical to thought provoking and spiritual. Inner beauty, character, hope, faith, and living life abundantly all characterize the underlying meanings. Birds represent this element of abundant life to me because these simple beauties are around us all of the time; if we pay attention, these little gifts given can brighten a day, and a lifetime. I appreciate painting common things, sparrows and wrens, to highlight their sometimes overlooked beauty. Adding an element of life, a butterfly, a person, a bird, makes the painting come alive. My vision is to bring the viewer to this deeper sense of beauty all around, even in things seen everyday, and uncover true beauty within.

-Lacey Shelton