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I work with forgotten and discarded family photographs. The faces speak to me and I lose myself in imagined memories. Gathering materials from various sources, favoring antique ephemera and other unusual imagery and text, I collage and paint a layered story merging past and present. I often add a written “caption” for the viewer to contemplate – a phrase from my collection of vintage materials, something remembered from my childhood, or perhaps my own personal commentary. I have found that it doesn’t matter who is pictured’ we are all so much the same. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, I lived in San Francisco for five years and found the cultural diversity and natural wonder of the Bay area to be very stimulating to my artistic process. I returned to the Midwest in 2003 and am enjoying the experience of viewing familiar places through what I perceive to be “new eyes.” Although I have had many artistic hobbies since my childhood, art has been my focus since 2000. That was the same year I turned 40 and had a so-called mid-life crazy time; my 18 year insurance career and corporate life were simply no longer appealing. I felt certain there was something creative waiting for me. Luckily I found my passion in painting and collage. I have shown my work in numerous juried competitions, group shows, and Open Studio events with California and the Midwest. I teach workshops nationally in collage and paste paper painting and also have a special interest in art as therapy, having taught collaborative workshops with therapists. I am currently under contract with North Light Publishing on a mixed media book that will come out in early 2011. I live in Wildwood, MO with my husband and our two cats. We are thrilled to be near our grandchildren and able to watch them grow.. Mary Beth Shaw www.mbshaw.com
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