About the Studio

Smolen Studio is the collaborative practice of Shelley and Lane Smolen. While each maintains an individual practice, they also collaborate on select works that combine Lane’s wildlife imagery with Shelley’s layered collage process.

Shelley Smolen (MFA, University of North Texas) creates mixed-media collages rooted in sculptural woodworking, assembling hand-painted papers, original drawings, wood veneer, and family-made marks into layered compositions that reflect family, memory and shared creativity.  Though her materials have shifted from reclaimed wood scraps to paper collage, she is still drawn to assembling overlooked fragments into something whole.  Woodworking remains part of her practice through handcrafted wood relief elements and wood veneer, adding depth and a sculptural presence to her collages.

Lane Smolen (MFA, SCAD) is a painter and illustrator whose work celebrates wildlife and the natural world through detailed, expressive imagery.  

After becoming a mother, Shelley began bringing her background in sculptural woodworking into a patchwork, marquetry-inspired collage practice. As full-time art educators and parents of three young daughters, creativity at home naturally becomes part of their studio practice.  Their daughters’ painted papers, drawings, and spontaneous marks often become part of Shelley’s finished collages, capturing a glimpse of their shared creative life. Each collage becomes both a finished artwork and a quiet record of family life.

Custom Commissions

Please e-mail shelleyscottstudio@gmail.com to begin the conversation.

Artist Statement

There’s something special about the way children view the world. This has been more apparent to me since becoming a mother to three imaginative girls. Through my experiences with them, my artwork has evolved, embracing greater playfulness, curiosity, and exploration.  Creating art together has become an essential part of my creative practice.

Each collage begins with a collection of handmade fragments created over time.  Drawings, hand-painted papers, marbled surfaces, wood veneer, textured paintings, and handcrafted relief elements are created by my daughters and me, becoming integral parts of each finished piece.  I gather these fragments into intricate compositions that balance childlike spontaneity with careful intention. 

Drawn to symmetry, geometric patterns, and layered texture, I use repetition and careful arrangement to create harmony from countless individual elements.  Rather than beginning with a predetermined composition, I allow each work to evolve through continual rearrangement and refinement, often changing it many times until it feels complete.  The slow process of assembling each collage has become almost meditative, inviting me to slow down, notice, and consider how each fragment relates to the whole.  What begins as a collection of individual fragments gradually becomes a unified composition with each adjustment refining the relationship between color, texture, and form. 

This creative process is an act of gathering.  Handmade fragments and moments of childhood come together in each composition. I’m continually drawn to the challenge of transforming many different fragments into compositions that feel both beautiful and unexpected. More than finished artworks, my collages become lasting records of our family’s creative journey, celebrating the wonder found in everyday moments.

shelleyscottstudio@gmail.com
@smolenstudio