“I’ve always found inspiration in the world around me,” says Shelby, who is mostly self-taught. Having grown up in Hilton Head, South Carolina, her subjects tend to reflect her native surroundings, complete with palm trees and Lowcountry marshes—settings many Southern women are drawn to.
With a lifelong interest in art, Shelby considered attending art school following high school, but practicality led her to college instead. After graduation from Tulane University, Shelby moved to Houston for a sales job at a creative arts firm. Soon, she realized there are many ways to make a living as an artist and left her job. “I did the total cliché of waiting tables and selling my art,” says Shelby, “and it didn’t take long before I didn’t have to wait tables anymore. You just have to put your mind to it and figure out your niche.” And that’s precisely what she did.
In addition to umbrellas and beach towels, you will find a variety of subjects depicted in her work and all of them reflect her environs, including her successful pagodas and palmettos. Shelby explains that “each series explores something different, whether it’s different color schemes, ideas, or motifs, but the unifying idea is a joyful lifestyle.”
Her experience abroad opened her eyes to the possibilities in her art and beyond. Drawing from the creative problem-solving she learned while navigating new cultures, she considers each piece a process of discovery. “I love working through the hard part of a painting to get a sudden glimpse of how it’s going to shine and what it is going to become,” she says. “You can’t wait for inspiration to come. You have to just keep creating.” Once the last stroke is added, Shelby feels content sending a piece to its forever home knowing that her art has sung to another person’s heart.
For information, visit shelbydillonstudio.com.
Text by Dorothy Walton
Photography by Tammy Jean Lamoureux
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