First Artwork of 2014: Fight or Flight + Photos from "Menagerie" Solo Art Show

I have been working off and on this piece for almost two weeks now but I finally finished it up last night. I also ordered a really cool silver frame to put it into so I look forward to seeing how it looks once it all matted and framed up. For "Fight or Flight" I return to my much-loved motif of snakes and birds, as well as fanciful foliage. But I wanted to make this artwork very dramatic, so I stuck to a monochrome color palette so as to heighten the compositions's effect. I also played around with flat images vs more 3-D looking images - almost like the 'real' snake is rising off of a decorative wallpaper pattern background. So this plays with the viewer's eyes and plays between the relationship of artifice vs art.

Fight or Flight

16 x 20 inches (which will be matted and framed to about 19.5 x 25.5 inches.)

Ink and Acrylic on Paperboard

www.lynnetteshelley.com

This past Friday I had the opening reception for my solo art show ("Menagerie") at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. I have about 16 larger to medium sized works in this show (which is sponsored by Inliquid, a Philadelphia-based art association). Menagerie runs through Feb. 16. Some photos of the art installed are below.