Artist Shelley Phillips stands alongside her work during a previous exhibit at Town Hall in Edison, where she resides. EDISON — The work of township artist Shelley Phillips does not fit neatly into one box. Instead, her eclectic creations take on a variety of subjects and media in a dynamic nature.
“I try not to stick with the same thing,” Phillips said, adding that her work ranges from “realistic” to “more abstract.”
Members of the public can soon see this for themselves when the artist’s work goes on display once again at the Highland Park Public Library.
With an opening on Feb. 8 from 2-5 p.m., the show will remain on display through the remainder of the month.
The library showcases a different artist each month, serving as a first exhibit space for many, according to library spokesperson Valeri Drach Weidmann.
Phillips, however, is not new to exhibiting her work. A member of the East Brunswick-based Suburban Artist Guild of Middlesex County, she has shown her work at the Highland Park library more than once. She has also shown at a variety of other venues, including Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton.
The artist also twice won honorable mentions for in Middlesex County’s senior art contest, with the works being displayed at Middlesex County College.
An art teacher for 40 years, Phillips retired two years ago to pursue art and travel. She taught in public schools in Newton, Mass., and after moving to New Jersey in 1997, continued her career at Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva.
“I was always coming up with projects for the kids,” she said, adding that she would always do her own test run of each.
Now, whether painting or drawing using oils, acrylics or pastels, Phillips draws a wealth of inspiration from the places and faces she encounters while traveling. She captures photos of such scenes and then recreates them.
“Some of them are by the sea or waterfront,” she said, adding, “We went to Alaska last year, and some of them are from that.”
Portraits were Phillips’s first love, and she often sketched faces on Atlantic City’s Steel Pier in her youth.
“I’ve always loved portraits, faces,” she said, adding, “But sometimes scenes with people in it are interesting to me.”
Her portraiture allowed her to rub elbows with celebrities, when she would draw musical talents such as James Taylor, Cat Stevens, John Denver and others during their concerts, and then get to meet them afterward.
A trip to the Georgia O’ Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, N.M., got Phillips intrigued by flowers and their intricacies. Murals have also captured her attention, with several in her Edison home as proof.
Her love of puzzles led her in the direction of origami, and she displayed her own pieces at the Highland Park library several years back. Phillips has taught courses on the paper-folding art form and attended several origami conventions.
“It’s sort of like solving a puzzle and coming out with a beautiful result,” she said.
In all its forms, Phillips’ art is something about which she is passionate, and on which she places no limits.
“I’m trying to stretch, really,” she said.
The Highland Park Public Library is located at 31 N. 5th Ave., Highland Park.
For more information on Phillips, visit fineartamerica.com/ profiles/ shelleyphillips. html.