art

New Artwork: Surveillance

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I took a departure from my textile mixed-media paintings for this piece. When I arrived at Loovlinnak Creative City Artist Residency, directors Al Padrok and Taje Tross generously gave me access to their tools and supplies, including several stacks of paper. Most of it was unremarkable: construction paper, printer paper, and graph paper. But one small stack caught my eye immediately. I could tell it was old and somehow related to typewriters or early computers, and when I asked, I learned it dated to the Soviet occupation. I adopted all of it, just four sheets, one of which had some math scribbled across it in pen.

Research revealed that it is Soviet-era perfokaart: stiff punch cards with holes in specific positions that fed instructions and data into mainframe computers before modern digital storage existed. From the 1970s through the 1980s, Soviet-bloc computing relied heavily on this technology, running the economic planning, industrial control, and record-keeping systems of the USSR, including in occupied Estonia.

I'd already been planning work that referenced Soviet propaganda posters, so the cards were a natural substrate. I cast a black-headed gull (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) as a drone after photographing many of them in flight. The species' limited, high-contrast palette and missile-like profile suited the graphic style of Soviet propaganda posters.

I sketched a range of compositions that played off the perfokaart's holes and contours while keeping that propaganda energy, and landed on a gull flying high, firing a dotted laser beam down into the punched border. I used the scribbled-on card as a stencil for the laser dots.  I kept the first as-is, and then scaled the rest up so the beam widens from a point near the gull into an even band.

This is Surveillance, acrylic on Soviet-era perfokaart (punch card) c. 1978, 8.2x11.75”, 2026.

Shelby Prindaville's painting of a gull cast as a drone on Soviet-era perfokaart.

New Artwork: Woven Thresholds

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I’ve been painting red flowers lately, and I intentionally chose to continue that trend since I was building around a component I planned to use from the start: a jacquard folk pattern trim I picked up at Karnaluks OÜ in Tallinn. Once I saw a stand of vivid tulips, the rest of the composition came together..

The process differed from Between Worlds. Here, I painted the floater panel and tulips first, then laid down plastic and painted the lace pattern on top of it. After removing both those layers, I worked through a wide range of compositional options before settling on this angled, mirrored lace overlay. From there I secured the lace, added the trim, then cleaned up and secured the back. This was the second piece I started, but the third to finish! The delay was due to the sequential steps I needed to complete, each of which involved drying/curing periods.

Iconographically, tulips function as shields, threshold filters, and barriers across multiple traditions, a symbolism rooted in their nyctinasty: they close their petals tightly at night or on cloudy days, sealing their core away from cold, damp, and nocturnal threats. That self-protective habit is part of why tulips are believed to draw in positive energy while keeping poverty, bad luck, and hostility from crossing into the home, and why they carry associations of safety within oppressive environments. The lace adds a further veil over the tulips, while the mirrored, overlapping composition contributes a sense of movement and dissonance.

The outer border carries its own layer of meaning: it is a traditional Baltic woven band steeped in regional folklore and protective symbolism. Its color scheme has historically represented life, fire, and an active shield against negative energy. The pattern combines two ancient Baltic symbols: the Cross of Māra, tied to the Latvian goddess of earth and home and read as a sign of grounding and stability, and the hourglass motif, which represents the rhythm of time and the meeting point of the spiritual and physical worlds.

This is Woven Thresholds, acrylic, lace, and jacquard trim on wooden floater panel, 14x11x.5”, 2026.

Shelby Prindaville’s mixed media lace painting of tulips on a floater panel with Baltic jacquard trim.

New Artwork: Between Worlds

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My first finished mixed media painting in Estonia depicts a white stork (Ciconia ciconia).

The substrate is antique lace over wood panel. My process involved attaching the lace to the panel, painting the portrait, removing the lace and altering the coloration of the wood panel surface, and then meticulously re-registering and attaching the lace back on top and sealing it down.

These birds are embedded in Estonian rural life: they're associated with summer farms and considered good luck omens. Storks are also important in folklore, as they accompany souls to the underworld and bring newborns into the world as a part of a cycle of death and rebirth in Finno-Ugric mythology.

This is Between Worlds, acrylic and antique lace on wood panel, 14x14x1.5”, 2026.

Shelby Prindaville's mixed media lace painting of a white stork.

A Better Way to Tape Down Paper

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When drawing and painting on paper, artists typically tape more delicate papers down to a board unless that paper comes as part of a pad already. Taping loose papers to boards allows artists to keep the paper flat and unwrinkled while being able to easily move it around and draw on it at more upright angles. (Drawing flat on a table or in an artist's lap can often introduce unintentional perspective distortion, while drawing closer to upright minimizes those issues.)

Note the white tape diagonally placed on top of the corners of the paper. You can click into this to see it more clearly in a larger view!

I don't believe I've ever really been taught how to tape; I think as students we all just convergently evolved similar techniques to tape each corner down at a diagonal. Then at the end of the painting, you peel it back and extend the artwork into those blank corners if necessary.

As a teacher, I did start to tell my students to aim for a small but not tiny amount of corner coverage: too much and you have more to fix at the end, while too little and the paper pulls free from the tape and falls at inopportune moments. I also tell them that if you want the tape to be sticky-but-not-too-sticky, you can press it to your pants or shirt first for easier removal.

While I was doing my first artist residency at Arts Itoya in Japan in June 2024, I used this same taping technique and it damaged several of the delicate washi papers.

To the right, you can see an image of my in-progress Paper Snow in January 2025 with taped corners.

I innovated a new technique during my second artist residency at Arts Itoya in June 2025! The new method is to place a piece of acid-free archival tape onto the back of the paper. That tape can remain indefinitely if the paper is prone to tearing, or can be gently removed if desired, and even if it does cause slight surface damage upon removal, that's happening on the side of paper no one's seeing. Then I place another piece of tape onto the first and extend it out past the edge of the painting so the sticky side is face up. Then I place a piece of tape sticky side down onto that. Here is an image of this taping technique:

Note that the tape is now not touching the face of the artwork at all!

I strongly recommend this new technique for:

  • paintings and drawings on delicate papers

  • paintings and drawings where the media will extend to the corners, so that you don't have to carefully match the markmaking, color palette, etc. afterwards but can just actively address the whole picture plane at once

I'm teaching Painting I this semester, and so I showed my students both options at the beginning of the semester. Most students have chosen to adopt this new method even when dealing with sturdy substrates like canvas paper, due to the second point above.

Arts Itoya 2025 Residency Artwork 1: Red Spider Lily

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I’ve wanted to paint a red spider lily (Lycoris radiata) for some time because of their Asian iconography. In Japanese, this flower is the 彼岸花 (higanbana), and it symbolizes death, farewells, and the afterlife across Asia. It is planted around graveyards due to its toxicity, which discourages animals from disturbing graves. In artwork and storytelling (including anime), higanbana often foreshadows an upcoming fatality. An interesting botanical aside about this plant is that the bulb blooms first; usually only after the flowers die does it send out leaves!

Higanbana blooms between late August through early October, around the autumnal equinox. Due to my teaching schedule, my visits have only been possible in the early summer, so I couldn’t see them bloom in person here in Japan. I also tried and failed to source a bloom in the USA; due to its floriography, florists don’t carry it and if I bought and planted a bulb, it typically takes 4-7 years to flower.

However, a friend and Morningside alumna is relocating soon to Tokyo, and she was visiting Japan last autumn. I asked her if she’d be able to do me the favor of taking a few photos of these flowers and ceding me the copyright. She was willing and accomplished the task, so when I arrived at Takeo-onsen, I began work on this painting right away!

This is Red Spider Lily, acrylic on lattice pattern brass leaf Torinoko paper, 11.6x17.5”, 2025. It’s impossible to simultaneously photograph the painting well and show the reflective sheen of the paper, so just know that this painting is far more regal in person due to the golden metallic luster of the substrate.

Ashlar Etching

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I was invited to take part in the ART 246 Intaglio and Collograph Printmaking course’s finals etching trade. The end of the semester is always a busy time, but I said yes; I haven’t done an etching in ten years and it’s always good to refresh and grow, plus it’s a nice interaction for all involved. Our talented instructor Stephanie VonderAhe provided me with an already beveled 3x4” copper plate with hard ground applied. The assignment was themed “the view from here.” As I was mulling over the theme and how it might fit into my artistic practice, I decided to do a portrait of Ashlar - I see her every day.

I drew the piece at home, and I just accepted any mistakes I made as I didn’t really have time to re-ground any spots. When I thought it was done, I put the plate into the acid bath for a 40min etch, took it out, and printed it. That first print was pretty good, but the drawing seemed a little flat and there were a number of areas where I wanted to add or deepen shadows and develop a sense of volume. Stephanie added a new layer of hard ground for me, and I went back into the plate a second time. We then put it in the ferric chloride again for 40 more minutes.

I printed an edition of 16, but several of those had print errors (are you supposed to count those? - I’m now thinking you’re not, but I did!). As intended, I gave away 7 to the class. I framed up one for myself, and gifted another to my parents and a third to my sister. I have just a few good prints left, but of course I do still have my plate…

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! Of course, I see some areas I could improve upon were I to do another plate or had time to fix mistakes prior to etching, but overall it’s a nice representation of Ash.

Recent Article in the LSU Reveille About QCC

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This summer has been so crazy that I haven’t been as on top of sharing my press coverage, but here’s a still fairly recent article from the LSU Reveille which gives my collaboration with Dr. John Pojman on 3P Quick Cure Clay a mention, “LSU professor creates QuickCure Clay, combining science, art, aiding wide range of artists.”

New Artwork: Dreamedary

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When I began to paint Camelflage, I actually had envisioned a “white on white” concept. However, that painting rapidly began to change direction and I liked where it was going so I let it ride and am happy with how it turned out. I still wanted to paint my original idea, though, so I ordered the same panel size again for continuity and mirrored the camel for a little variation.

This is Dreamedary, acrylic on basswood panel, 12x12x1.5”.

La Pedrada de Noemi Artwork 3

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This piece is rather quiet, even though it features a loud subject - the Ornate Wrasse, Thalassoma pavo.  I am particularly pleased with the background, which is in keeping with my overall style but also references the refraction patterns of the ocean.  I also think this painting shows that though the Ornate Wrasse is brightly colored, it can blend in surprisingly well.

It is acrylic on pastelbord, 9x12", and I'm still wrestling with the title.

La Pedrada de Noemi Artwork 2

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This acrylic on gessobord is quite small - only 5x7" - and purposefully awkward.  To me it's simultaneously uncomfortable and amusing.  The subject is a redlip or horseface blenny, Ophioblennius atlanticus.  I'm titling it Stage Left.  This painting also uses iridescent gold in both the background and the eyes, so it too is more arresting in person than in photo.

La Pedrada de Noemi Artwork 1

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Here's the first finished piece of artwork from my residency!  It features two Canary damselfish, Similiparma lurida and/or Abudefduf luridus.  There are a lot of this species in the Zoco Negro where I went snorkeling and had my scuba diving "baptism."  The males are territorial, and this species is occasionally called sergeant major (though the name more commonly applies to a different damselfish species).  I've decided to name this painting Reconnaissance.  It is acrylic on pastelbord, 11x14", and looks even nicer in person because the water and the eyes of the fish have iridescent silver and gold paint on them, respectively, and so they shine intensely depending on viewer angle and interior light levels.