The Golden Apple Studio

    
     "Wendy Meets Captain Hook" by Shelly Newman Stevens

Shelly Newman Stevens is a painter whose work reminds me a bit of Paula Rego's (which is high praise indeed). Her themes include myth and fairy tales, the seen and unseen worlds, and the nature of beauty. Stevens trained at the Kendell College of Art & Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a summer abroad at Central St. Martins College Art & Design and the Chelsea College of Art & Design in London. Her Golden Apple Studio is located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

"The figures in my paintings," she writes, " are portrayed in a harsh contemporary light, one in which they teeter on the brink of lost innocence. In a pivotal moment, they are free to break the grip of enchantment, thereby empowering themselves to step out of the fairy tale and into the real world.

"My work is meant to provoke reinterpretation of these fictional stories, one in which the unexpected imagery inspired by the sub-themes of these classic fairytales force a darker, more anxious mood upon the viewer.  Notions of happy-ever-after are dispelled, and are replaced with more complex endings spun by the viewer himself."

Visit Stevens' website to see more of her powerful work. (With thanks to Regina Mitchell for the link.)

Comments

[Seth]

Ya im the drummer

[Kathie Lofts]

Hi Shelly,

It was great to see you today. I love your artwork. It is hard to imagine this as big as you described. They would just engulf me. The knife and pumpkin is kind of scarey. Kathie

[peter moutsatson]

Very nice, positive review--well done, bucko!

Pete

[Deb]

Hi Shel... Congratulations on a wonderful review! You've earned it...

Love,
Deb

[Nona Walker]

Shelley's work is amazing... should you have an opportunity to view her pieces -- definitely, do so! The larger than life exhibits will blow you away and have your mind churning for days...

[ALLAN A. BLACK]

SIMPLY WONDERFUL.....YOU ARE MOST TALENTED! MAY YOU CONTINUE TO PROSPER AND GROW (BY THE WAY, LOVE THE PUMPKINS)