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Shelby Fischer

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Artist bio

Born in Brooklyn to a family of artists and music aficionados, I was exposed early on to a wide range of artistic expression, including harmonica, ukulele, flute, gospel, opera, and a variety of lessons in the visual arts. Focusing on classical piano for several decades led me to a job as Executive Producer for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, an international, non-profit educational organization based in Washington, DC.

After many years I escaped the DC rat race by moving to a farm in Greene County in January 2002, where, among many other things, I rediscovered art. My life was profoundly altered after taking a class with artist Ros Casey, called Mapping the Dark, an experience that opened my mind to the possibilities of mixed media collage. I attacked the art form with a vengeance and have never looked back.

I’ve spent the past six years renovating and restoring my eighteenth century farmhouse and gardens that are extensions of my collage work. It is not unusual to find vintage wood scraps from my old barn or antique furniture in my assemblages.

I garden, interior and landscape design, quilt, draw, sew, and love animals (I own three rescue dogs.) I have done several outdoor large stone mosaic installations in the ground throughout my property using rocks from the Middle River, which runs through my land. In addition to writing scripts and speeches (Herbie Hancock National Press Club speech, September 2006) for the Thelonious Monk Institute, I am the proud mother of one wonderful 27-year old daughter who is getting her PhD in Child Psychology in New York.

I am represented in Charlottesville by Les Yeux du Monde. Over the past four years I have been in over half a dozen solo and group exhibitions throughout Central Virginia and am featured in the book Mixed Media Collage by Holly Harrison (2007).

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