Creativity is how I share myself with the world. 

“What do you love doing so much that the words failure and success essentially become irrelevant?”― Elizabeth Gilbert

 

For me, it’s creating. I am a born maker. I remember gathering pearly clam shells from the lake as a kid, cleaning them and writing my relatives' names on them for Christmas gifts, and how much joy this process brough me. 

 

My name is Shelly Collins. I am a visual artist. I live in Owasso, Oklahoma. (near Tulsa)  I studied Graphic Design in the late 1990's and have pursued a diverse list of creative projects throughout my lifetime. My work is a blend of art and design and coexists alongside the demands of my teaching career and my role as mom to three teenagers. 

 

I believe art mirrors life. The pillars that define my expression are: authenticity, failure is process, and beauty in imperfection and chaos. 

 

 My work is characterized by bold color, shapes, patterns, and typography. My studio practice involves mixed media collage, design, painting, and murals. I take inspiration from retro and modern design and my natural and urban environments.  I aim for the elements and compositions that make up my images to gracefully dance in the balanced space between opposites: old and new, made and found, natural and urban, order and chaos - all dynamically coexist in my work.