Cindy McClellan is a registered teaching artist with the Nebraska Arts Council, Creative Aging Arts Program.
This program provides grants to hire an artist to lead workshops at senior centers, assisted living facilities, libraries and nonprofit organizations serving older adults. Applicants select from a list of teaching artists trained in best practices of engaging older adults. Contact Nebraska Arts Council for more information.
My art is an exploration of the simple, the sculptural, and the peaceful, embodied in 3-D mixed-media wall pieces. Each creation invites you to embrace the interplay of light and shadows, which transform and dance gracefully throughout the day, ensuring that the art is in a constant state of metamorphosis.
My journey into this art form began as a challenge, an invitation to explore the artistic potential of a single sheet of bendable plywood. I am inherently more a sculptor than a painter, and this unfamiliar canvas presented an intriguing puzzle. I constructed the flexible plywood "canvas" by securing it to a wave-cut 1x6 frame. Uncertain of my next step, I found myself rearranging my studio space, inadvertently maneuvering 20-foot steel rods above the curved wood surface. And in that aha moment, shadows bent and flowed across the undulating canvas, forming captivating lines and shapes. It was a "happy accident," which has since evolved into the three-dimensional landscapes I create today.
My art draws its inspiration from the innate simplicity of nature's contours and the ever-evolving interplay of light and shadow within the landscape. The current series, in particular, is deeply influenced by my recent tour through western Nebraska. The rolling hills and expansive horizons left an indelible mark on my artistic sensibilities, infusing my work with the tranquil grandeur of wide-open spaces and the elegance of nature's lines.
In these pieces, I strive to capture the essence of those wide-open spaces, translating the tranquil grandeur of nature's landscapes into tactile, sculptural forms. As the sun moves across the sky, so too do the shadows evolve and dance upon the canvas, imbuing each piece with an ever-changing, dynamic quality that mirrors the natural world's ebb and flow.
In my creations, you will discover a harmonious fusion of the simplicity found in nature's forms, the sculptural depth of three-dimensional art, and the peaceful serenity that emerges from the ever-shifting play of light and shadow. I invite you to immerse yourself in this journey through landscapes, both real and imagined and find solace in the tranquility they bring to your space.
