WHIMSICAL ART
‘I am excited to have the opportunity to meet with exhibit guests to talk about my love of the creative process of bringing something that has never existed before into being.’
— Sue Ellen Siebert
ASHBY » In the charming country town of Ashby, the community is fortunate to have resident and artist Sue Ellen Siebert and to also have the opportunity to view her whimsical art exhibit at the local library.
Her art exhibit is currently on display at the Gallery of Art, located in the Ashby Free Public Library, 812 Main St., and will run now through the end of May, with viewing during regular library hours.
A “Meet the Artist” event will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. on Thursday. May 19, where guests will enjoy light refreshments and an artist talk.
“I am excited to have the opportunity to meet with exhibit guests to talk about my love of the creative process of bringing something that has never existed before into being,” said Siebert.
Siebert is a New England native who studied both art and literature at Rivier College in Nashua, N.H., earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2006.
“From the time I was a young girl, I would draw for hours and, of course, I wanted to be an artist,” she said. “Not necessarily an artist by profession, but an artist who created art for the sake of art.”
Siebert grew up in Pepperell, later making her home in Ashby in 2010, where she also works out of her home studio, a little cozy space where her creativity takes place.
“I suppose if I had to name this exhibit, I’d call it ‘She Has Strange Flights of Fancy,’ ” said Siebert. “The exhibit features mixed-media collages, including altered books and assemblage pieces. Several acrylic paintings and watercolors that depict animals, birds, and birch trees are also on display.”
Siebert explains that an “altered book” is a form of mixed
media art that recycles and transforms old, printed books, through whatever means the artist chooses, into new and unique objects of art.
“In other words, a book’s pages become the raw canvas on which an artist works,” Siebert said. “Generally, my altered books have a specific theme or narrative quality, although sometimes spontaneous creativity is allowed to take over and individual pages and two-page spreads stand on their own.”
A wide variety of papers and imagery, gleaned from many sources, are used by Siebert as she creates the quirky characters that populate her work; and she utilizes various media, including acrylic paint, watercolor, ink, and pencil, to bring depth and texture to every page.
Puzzling together different images and forming unexpected combinations, Siebert creates altered books that tell a story that is firmly rooted in the whimsical and absurd.
“My mind works in strange and mysterious ways,” she said. “It just seems to make these rather absurd connections between things.”
One of Siebert’s favorite pieces of artwork is her barn owl with antlers titled, “Daughter of the Wildwood.”
“This was an exploration of quirky combinations of disparate elements within the natural world,” she said. “However, I decided to do this in watercolor instead of collage, because I wanted to push myself beyond the familiar.”
Embracing creativity for its own sake, Siebert says is what makes her most happy.
“It is my hope that visitors to my exhibit will see something exciting, quirky and fun,” she said. “My work is something uniquely my own and I believe that art just lifts us up, much like music or literature does. And it slows us down. We play. We delight.”
If interested in purchasing Siebert’s art, or for more information, visit her Facebook page Sueellensiebertart or email her at sueellensiebertart@hotmail. com.