Member Spotlight: Shelly Recicar

This month our spotlight is shining on Paper Traders member, Shelly Recicar!

How did you find Paper Traders?
I found Paper Traders surfing the Net.

How long have you been a member?
I have been a member three years.

Where do you live?
I live in Boca Raton, Florida (USA) which is about an hour north of Miami.

How have your surroundings affected your art? 
Florida is bright and sunny and tropical. Much of my art is bright and the flora and fauna of the region are often the subjects in my work.

Please share a little about your own art experience.
I find art to be a great outlet of expression.  I have a passion for creating.  I cannot imagine life without art.  I am not afraid to try new things and am constantly experimenting with different techniques.

What are some of your favorite techniques or genres?
I enjoy mixing paint and collage.  I like the look of layers and texture which this combination provides.  I also love to watercolor.

What inspires you?
Anything can bring inspiration.  Inspiration is often spontaneous for me.  I do rely on the Internet - especially Pinterest - and my photos for inspiration if something around me has not sparked my creativity.

Who are some famous artists whose work you admire and what especially appeals to you about this?
I find that mixed media contemporaries inspire me more than traditional artists.  I really like the work of Julie Fei Fan Balzer, Teesha Moore and Roben Marie Smith who, coincidentally, all produce colorful work that combines paint and collage!

Describe your work area... Do you have your own studio or craft room?
I have a separate room for my artistic pursuits.  I have a paper table and a sewing table and a cutting table which is usually piled high with things that I have not put up.  There are two tall bookcases - one for paper and one for sewing.  Above my paper table are shelves as well.  The closet has shelves on one side and I keep my paper things there.  On the hanging side, I have fabric things in labeled boxes.  I also have many cabinets with fabric and patterns and books in my air-conditioned garage.

What tips or tricks have you found to help carve out a niche for your supplies and art?
I love to use boxes and bins. Whenever I cut out an image, I toss it in a box. I have shoe box sized cardboard boxes which are labeled by category such as winged animals, females, tags, etc. They are stacked on top of each other and do not take up much room. Then, when I work on a project it is easy to locate the images.  I keep 2 gallon baggies for cut-up paper (that is primarily one color) from junk mail and magazines.  I have a separate bag for each color.  These are placed in a wooden crate that tangelos came in.

Please share a little about your family and pets...
I have been married 31 years and have two daughters, 23 and 25 years old.  They both have their own places but you never know how many times a week they may drop by because they both live near us.  We have two King Charles Cavaliers and a tuxedo cat.

If you'd like, please share a little about your childhood, where you grew up, and when your creativity began.
I am an only child who grew up in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) with her parents and both of her grandmothers under the same roof.  My Mom and Grandmothers were always working on a sewing or craft project.  I never remember a time when something artistic was not in progress at our home.  I took art throughout high school and started out as an art major.  I changed my major to journalism my junior year and then pursued a Master's degree in English.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests?
I have two other major hobbies.  I am an avid quilter.  I have an art quilt group that meets at my house every week and I belong to two other quilting bees and two quilt guilds.  I find that if you can do it on paper , you can do it on fabric and vice versa.  Experimenting with techniques from both hobbies has really broadened my horizons.  I am also a boater/fisherman.  We live on the Intracoastal and have a 44 ft. Sea Ray Sundancer docked in our back yard. We fish, we do weekend raft ups, and we take trips to the Florida Keys and the Bahamas.  The Bahamas are only  three hours by boat from our house. Our favorite marina is at South Beach Miami.  What fun!