Shelley Carlisle
We sat down with local mixed media artist, Shelley Carlisle, whose work was recently featured as part of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival. She had three photographs juried into the exhibition and is now getting ready for another show, Awakening: The Sacred Feminine at the Nevada City Winery tasting room.
Carlisle creates a vast array of work, collages consisting of her own printed photographs and found images, along with exploring a variety of other mediums. You can see one of her pieces in the upcoming Celebration of Water exhibition at the Granucci Gallery.
Shelley Carlisle has always been a creative person, but only recently followed the call of her creative expression. “I have always been an artist, a musician and singer. But I never allowed myself to fully embrace or fully commit to either of these creative careers until a few years ago when I returned to school.” Carlisle graduated with an MFA in Studio Art from Mills College in 2022.
We always ask our Artist Spotlight where they draw inspiration from. Carlisle’s response comes as no surprise and informs her past and current exhibitions. “My inspiration comes from Mother Nature and the Sacred Feminine, reclaiming my own personal power and following my dreams, my reason for being incarnated on the planet - to create and share my art and music and teach others to do the same.” Carlisle has a zest for adventure and photographing the awesome and mystical spaces. While out in nature she hunts for the most unique scenes to capture the beauty and grandeur of Mother Nature and the Sacred Feminine. Through sharing these photographic images, she hopes to inspire the viewer. Inviting them to step inside a magical place where they have been transported to spiritually and viscerally experience the sublime majesty of the natural world.
We asked Carlisle what are some things she’s most proud of and along with her engaging body of work, her answer also inspires. “I have many things I'm very proud of, but the most recent is rekindling my connection to myself and my value as a woman and human being. Finally giving myself permission to follow my creative path, all while my marriage was falling apart from about 2018 -2022. It was in that chaotic soup of pain and realization that I decided to return to school to get my MFA, which exploded my art practice to photography, collage, videography and other art forms. The graduate program kept me focused and connected to myself, during the divorce process of 2 years, and I forged a path ahead to start a completely new life at 60 years old. I'm very proud of myself for honoring myself to finally become who I was meant to be. I hope that my story is inspiring to others who might think it's "too late" or they are "too old" - it is never too late and one is never too old - to live your most desired life and follow your dreams.”
One thing we love about Nevada County is the remarkable range of talent that resides in the foothills of the Sierra. Carlisle commented on this, “I'm am continually amazed at the incredible variety of talented artists and musicians, the mutual support of each other and the myriad of opportunities available to artists in this community. I'm especially honored to be in the company of so many talented photographers in the Nevada County Camera Club. This is one of the reasons I moved to this area, to build my community.”
Another question we love to ask our Artist Spotlight is about other artists in the community that they admire. “There are so many artists I admire in this community, it's hard to choose! However one that immediately comes to mind is Ellen Davis - I am inspired by her use of alternative photography processes and creative approaches to her photographic images.” Ellen Davis was one of our Artist Spotlights in January for her collaborative show Grounded Reveries with Jonathan Hinojosa at the Granucci Gallery.
We asked Shelley Carlisle what’s coming up for her. “I have a solo show with Nevada City Winery, opening on March 8th. I'll also have one photo in the Celebration of Water exhibition at the Granucci Gallery, opening the same day as my solo show, and I have another solo show at Edward Jones opening May 3rd. During the Summer and through the Fall I will be exhibiting in Art Fairs and Festivals throughout California and neighboring states.” With so much coming up for her we are so glad she had a moment to give us a peek into her creative process.
This story originally appeared in the March 1st, 2024 edition of the GVNC Culture Connection newsletter.
