Meet the Artist

In Dubious Battle an eleven panel, oil painting by artist Shelley Reed.

"Through a large oil painting on a paper grid Reed will allow the viewer to step into the creation of her black and white world, to exist among its painted inhabitants. She will use art historical imagery that is sometimes pastoral and at times aggressive, creating an environment that feels “vaguely familiar, a bit dangerous, and fully relevant to today.”"



Shelley Reed's paintings can be seen in Boston, New York, Chicago, and now, Southern California, while she is an Artist-in-Residence at Lux Institute.

A unique and enjoyable part of the Artist-in-Residence program is the chance to meet the artist, see them working at their art, and to ask questions. This experience is wonderful for personal engagement, and opportunity to relate to the art with its creator. We were interested to learn that Shelley Reed was painting in oil directly on paper, without gesso. She described the quality and properties of the Arches paper, and that she enjoyed how the paper behaves with the oil paints.



Shelley Reed will be giving a Studio Talk, October 5th.

We would like to thank Shelley Reed for the generous and inspiring way she engaged with Maria, Alex, and Bambi; she went above and beyond in her interactions with us, in sharing her experiences, insights, and helpful criticism. As Maker Faire exhibitors, and in our community outreach, we know how much time and energy it can take to engage with the public. We enjoy exhibiting, talking about our interests, and yours, and when someone, like Shelley Reed, makes time to share and personally relate with us, we are especially appreciative. Thank you, as well, to Lux Institute for hosting this inspired program: Artist-In-Residence is marvelous.

(Benevolent Order of Makers is a school, this year... while Maria is homeschooling, we are calling ourselves the Benevolent Order of Makers STEAM Education Academy, or something like that. Really, it's all a pretty natural extension of our regular activities, but with some extra pomp and flare, because that's amusing to us.)