Emily R. Shepardson
Small Domestic Miracles
Margaret W. and Joseph L. Fisher Gallery
January 20, 2018 – March 5, 2018
Artist Reception: February 10, 2018 2-4PM
I am a painter and a printmaker, but I am primarily a collage artist. My process for painting and printing is a very collage-like.
Each print I make is a series of different plates and stencils, layered and combined until a satisfying image is achieved. Paintings often begin as a drawing or a scrap of a print to which elements, some three dimensional, are added and subtracted. Any unsatisfying prints or paintings are recycled into new works as the endless collage cycle continues.
My frequent imagery includes birds and houses. I am fascinated with the patterns flying birds make in the air, embroidering an otherwise empty sky.
Crows in particular intrigue me with their dramatic black coloring, sharp voices, and clever ways. What is that crow thinking? And what is he trying to tell me? Asymmetrical slumping sheds off country roads and the skeletal house frames in historic St. Mary’s County, Maryland are a comforting shape to me . These skeletal house frames function as placeholders for archaeologists, but to me appear to be wooden sketches of homes. I am intrigued with that idea of a skeleton house. What can that shape contain? What protection does that house offer?
What is a small domestic miracle? It is a phrase I use to describe small household magic like soaking white napkins in bleach to remove food stains, or perfectly gluing a broken cup back together again. It could also be catching sight of a tangle of birds circling over the house or having a crow follow me to work. In my art, it’s a glimpse of a swan in the creek, or the shadow touch of a hand on your back.
Emily received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Corcoran College of Art and Design and a Masters of Interdiscplinary Studies in from Virginia Commonwealth University with an emphasis in Painting and Printmaking. She is a full time visual arts instructor at Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Arlington, VA. Her professional associations included the National Art Education Association and the Virginia Art Education Association. She has participated at a number of regional shows including group shows at Pyramid Atlantic, Del Ray Artisans and Washington Printmakers.
