Biography:

Alissa (Gillespie) Sheley was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1980. She grew up in Lebo, Kansas and graduate... more

Biography:

Alissa (Gillespie) Sheley was born in Emporia, Kansas in 1980. She grew up in Lebo, Kansas and graduated from Lebo High School in 1999. Alissa currently resides in Topeka, Kansas. She graduated with Honors in December of 2004 with a B.A. in Art and a Women's Studies Minor from Washburn University. Alissa works as an Account Manager for Jones Huyett Partners, a full-service advertising, marketing, and public relations agency in Topeka.

Artist's Statement:

I began working on plexiglass during my first year at Washburn. One particularly broke day, I had the overwhelming urge to paint but no canvas to work on and no money to buy more. So I rummaged through a storage closet and found an old piece of plexiglass. I had no idea if it would work, but it seemed like a paintable surface so I decided to give it a shot. Little did I realize at the time, I was taking my first steps into my career as an artist.