Illustrator | Photographer
In November, 2024, Shelby opened a gallery based on the book, Surprised by Joy by CS Lewis. Lewis describes in this book a concept of deep Joy; a desire defined as a “certain sickness that is better than health.” Deep Joy, as described, is “an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction”. Captivated by this concept, Shelby created a 22-piece illustration series complemented by an 18-piece cyanotype series. Using her distinct storybook illustrative style, Shelby approached this sense of desire in a peaceful, yet loney way. Each illustration features only one character, personifying the desire as unapproachable. This Joy can be experienced in many ways, from hearing music at a dance, to sitting outside and drinking coffee in the mountains.
At the gallery, she encouraged her attendees to write of a time they have experienced this. Here are some of the responses:
“When I was sitting on the beach in New Zealand on that first night. It was like a new place, like nowhere I have been before.
It was silent, but for the waves which raced up the beach. I will never forget that place. Part of my heart is there.
If I return, the memory will be tainted, but for now, it remains preserved in the joyous part of my mind.”
“I think of Joy in streams and waterfalls and raindrops, the sound and swell of water”
“I was sitting outside the BPAC [Berry Performing Arts Center at John Brown University]
before a practice one evening and it was cloudy and then it started to rain.
I sat in the grass in the rain with my cast/friends for a while and drank in the smell of petrocore. That filled me with immense Joy.”
“Oh! Where to start!
The blooming of the flower bringing life
The deathly snows of bitter knife
The echoing brass of Tchaikovsky
The somber strings of Bach
Horns! Strings! Dreams!
All are mere echos of eternity.”
It was silent, but for the waves which raced up the beach. I will never forget that place. Part of my heart is there.
If I return, the memory will be tainted, but for now, it remains preserved in the joyous part of my mind.”
“I think of Joy in streams and waterfalls and raindrops, the sound and swell of water”
“I was sitting outside the BPAC [Berry Performing Arts Center at John Brown University]
before a practice one evening and it was cloudy and then it started to rain.
I sat in the grass in the rain with my cast/friends for a while and drank in the smell of petrocore. That filled me with immense Joy.”
“Oh! Where to start!
The blooming of the flower bringing life
The deathly snows of bitter knife
The echoing brass of Tchaikovsky
The somber strings of Bach
Horns! Strings! Dreams!
All are mere echos of eternity.”