For quite a while, I just assumed I had already interviewed Shelley on this blog! I feature her work often and check up from time to time, and realized eventually that I have yet to do so! I first met Shelley and saw her work as part of the 6 x 6 project, in which we did a three way exchange (with Karine Leger as well). I neglectfully lost one of my materials packages... I am not the best 6 x 6 participant, but I do love the idea of bringing people together as such! That is where I first saw her work, and I'm happy to share it with you here. I love her work with vintage ephemera, but also she is open to experimentation, and I am always seeing different collages popping up on her flickr.
Name (Real or Screename): Shelley Kommers / Flickr screen name Shelley Lane
URL (Blog, Website): http://www.oiseaux.typepad.com
Location (Where are you from?): Los Angeles
Q: Describe your work in 10 words or less.
A: Poetry, stories and dreams.
Q: What do you like to work with (magazines, photographs, vintage)? Be specific!
A: Old, crusty papers and photographs, transparent things, Letraset rub-on type, and string. I love string.
Q: How long have you been creating collages and what made you start?
A: I've been making collages for about a year and a half. I started when I joined Flickr's 6x6 Collage Group with french artist Sofia Barão... she was looking for a partner and I thought it would be a cool exercise. Little did I know that I would fall in love with it! I have a background in design and illustration, so it was a blast exploring something new but also very basic. Collage is very freeing.
Q: Are you solely an artist, or do you work in another profession?
A: I'm a mommy, too.
Q: Do you have any formal art training?
A: I majored in advertising design at Art Center College of Design, and that taught me the fundamentals of design and visual communication. But a lot of my art is authentic... I can't say "self-taught", but almost.
Q: Explain your favourite techniques.
A: Most of my work starts with a vague idea, like a photograph or a colour, and then I just go from there. I don't know that I have a technique. I stare at my work a lot while I'm working, but that might just be a personal quirk.
Q: Describe your favourite piece ever created.
A: I don't have a favourite, but the piece that makes me the happiest is The Swarm. That collage happened so quickly at my desk one evening... I just sat there cracking up, I don't know where it came from!
Q: What other artists do you admire?
A: I love Mary Blaire, Deloss McGraw, Ed Ruscha, and many others, including a lot of artists on flickr.
Thanks Shelley!