Shadia Derbyshire: Art Exhibit Opening Reception

Shadia Derbyshire has been painting with acrylics for more than 30 years. “Of Land and Sea” features a selection of her latest series of seascapes and her signature treescapes. The poured acrylic seascapes feature unique textures and colors, often accented with silver or gold leaf. The treescapes feature stark silhouettes of tree lines atop vibrant backdrops created with a mixture of collage and acrylic.

Although Shadia works primarily in acrylics and collage, her passion for and creativity with color is the true theme that runs through all of her work. With her latest collage work, Shadia uses a selection of found papers, tissue papers, discarded sewing patterns, origami and craft papers. These papers are then painstakingly hand-painted, stained, stamped and stenciled. Shadia then tears each paper by hand to ‘paint’ over her canvas, resulting in dynamic and colorful pieces with unique pattern and texture.

“For me, one of the greatest experiences is looking at the piece I am working on and realizing I am looking at something no one in the world has ever seen before. It’s this experience that motivates me, and that I yearn to share. My deepest creative desire is to bring to fruition a previously unseen vision of beauty and introspection through my art. I create art to change our idea of what can be seen in the world.” -​Shadia

For more information about the art exhibit or Village Arts Factory, please contact gallery coordinator Kevin Ryan at kevin.ryan@cantonmi.gov or visit villageartsfactory.com/artgallery.